The Random Transformers Thoughts Thread

[TaZZerath]

For pure wordplay and comedic value I always love Thew's reviews. They are a bit inconsistent in scheduling but are getting better now he's a full time YouTuber.

Thew's Awesome Transformers Reviews (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3AVTw_73U_8jMzLw5TbEg)

Death Reviews are pretty good too and very frequent (with some 'gallows humour' thrown in) and is a mixed bag of TF's and other action figures

Death Reviews (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGJGRYT_YKmynJXVDqsunwQ)

[FatalityPitt]

This is typical with a lot of video reviewers. Many of them like everything, often without providing reasons or a balanced critique. You know, actually reviewing the toy. Too many videos that claim to review toys are little more than just boastful showcasing videos. This is why I generally avoid video reviews and much prefer text reviews. For whatever reason, I find that text reviewers are less likely to be so blindly boastful about a toy and actually give a proper review. I don't mind if a reviewer says that a toy is the bee's knees, but it all lies in the justification of their opinion.


You need to pick and choose reviewers. I generally find those that aren't racing to be the first to upload something can generally speak more frankly about a figure, and the reviews don't just amount to sticking the figure in front of a camera and going "yep the head turns, the arms swivel".

There seems to be a competition among YouTube reviewers on who can review new toys first. As a result they don't take enough time to properly explore and assess the toys' quality. One thing that is good though is that we get to see how they transform.



I definitely have FOMO. ;) But I guess that my rationale is to get a toy first and then later if I regret it I can always sell it. And yeah, selling toys is usually at a loss, so it's a risk that I'm willing to accept. Unless you're willing to wait years and years and try to sell the toy off at as close to RRP as possible.

Admittedly I rarely feel that new toys supersede existing ones. e.g. Goldbug didn't supersede Bumblebee, and Pretender Bumblebee didn't supersede Goldbug etc. - they were just the latest version of that character and I was happy to have all of them. Siege Shockwave will fit into my CHUG universe, which is currently occupied by Generations FOC Shockwave (yeah, I know that it's officially Aligned, but in the Gokiverse FOC = Neo-G1). Siege Shockers won't supersede FOC Shockers, he'll just be the latest version. Both are very different toys with different alt modes, so I can enjoy both for different reasons. :)

I think a healthy way to respond to the inverted FOMO would be to do what you described where you'd buy the figure, and if you don't end up liking it (or if something better comes along); sell it. Problem with me is that I don't like selling toys. Mainly because when I sell them, I usually sell at a loss, and I find the activity of packing them away and looking for buyers to be a chore. I'm basically a lazy bean counter :rolleyes:. My remedy against this has been to tell myself "Only buy the toy IF you like it 100%". This leads me to search for faults and heavily criticize figures I like before deciding whether to buy. I often end up skipping them for very superficial reasons only to regret it later, which isn't good.

I also usually assume that newer toys will be better than older ones, and I tell myself things like "This Hot Rod is good, but I'll wait for a better version". As you mentioned, the newer toys aren't always better (or more appropriate) than previous versions. My example earlier with the CW Starscream actually happened with me, where I saw it IRL and thought "It's good, but I'll wait the next G1 Starscream. Starscream's popular, so it shouldn't be long til the next one". Then surprise, the PotP Starscream released 2-3 years later turns out to be less appealing than the CW version :D



I'm down to my final Oxipay payment on Big Powered next week so once thats done I might weigh up my options but i DEFINITELY want Stege (not a typo :D) Flywheels, Blowpipe for my Hasbro Triggerhappy, and 2/3 micromaster teams (the cars don't do anything for me, but I had the others as kids and they seem like awesome updates)

I think if you like Dai Altas and lesser known characters like that, it's good to get them now.

The nice thing about popular characters like G1 Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee is that you can almost count on HasTak to release new toys of those characters every 1 or 2 years. If you want a Neo-G1 Megatron but don't like the current one, you can maybe wait a year or two (if you're willing to play the long game) for the next one. The $30~$90 question is; "will the next one be better than the current one?" These things are hard to predict.

However, with lesser known characters like Dai Atlas, Flywheels and Triggerhappy, it's much harder to predict when we'll see these characters in toy form again. The previous toy released of Triggerhappy (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Triggerhappy#Toys) prior to Titans Return was the first release in 1987. That's a 30 year interval! Since G1 has gotten more popular in recent years, I don't think the intervals will be as wide, but it could still be many years until we see another Triggerhappy toy again, especially since there are still other G1 characters who still haven't gotten Neo-G1 (or CHUG) figures yet - like Piranacon, the Autobot Target Masters, Thunderclash, etc.

I think this is why there was so much FOMO in the air during the Titans Return days. Many people dislike the headmaster gimmick, and it's understandable - it sucks when you lose the head, and doesn't feel good to have to pull the head off during transformation. However at the same time, people who disliked headmasters still went bananas over the likes of TR Topspin, Twintwist, Quake, Repugnus, Misfire, etc. It's because they felt this could be the only opportunity they'll get in a long time to buy these characters at RRP. If they skip them now, they might have to wait like 9 years for newer versions of those characters (or pay secondary market prices for the toys they skipped or missed out on). It's very hard to predict when you'll be able to get a character like Dai Atlas again, so it's good to lock it in now.

[TaZZerath]

It's very hard to predict when you'll be able to get a character like Dai Atlas again, so it's good to lock it in now.

Not to mention the molds they decided to use are all really good ones and really evoke the original character iterations.

I never managed to get Misfire OR Twin Twist (much to my own disappointment really) so getting both the molds (despite some retooling) would fill that hole in my life to some degree.

Due to my space and budgetary limitations i always HEAVILY research a toy before I proceed. I pore over TFWiki details about the character, photos, see user impressions, reviews, all sorts. And even then sometimes I linger too long (or occasionally have the rug pulled out from under me)

[FatalityPitt]

I never managed to get Misfire OR Twin Twist (much to my own disappointment really) so getting both the molds (despite some retooling) would fill that hole in my life to some degree.


Twin Twist is a slight retool of Topspin, so if you'd like to know how Twin Twist moves and transforms, it's almost the same as Topspin. But yeah, it's not quite the same as owning the character. Misfire has gotten quite expensive, but Slugslinger is still selling on eBay for a fairly reasonable price, and he's gang-moulded with Misfire. So Slugslinger miiight be a decent substitute if you're just after Misfire for the transformation.

Cheapest eBay listing for Slugslinger: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Transformers-Titans-return-deluxe-class-slugslinger-NIB/253967131265?hash=item3b219ee281:g:IDkAAOSwdwVb4K~ T:rk:1:pf:0

[TaZZerath]

Twin Twist is a slight retool of Topspin, so if you'd like to know how Twin Twist moves and transforms, it's almost the same as Topspin. But yeah, it's not quite the same as owning the character. Misfire has gotten quite expensive, but Slugslinger is still selling on eBay for a fairly reasonable price, and he's gang-moulded with Misfire. So Slugslinger miiight be a decent substitute if you're just after Misfire for the transformation.

Cheapest eBay listing for Slugslinger: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Transformers-Titans-return-deluxe-class-slugslinger-NIB/253967131265?hash=item3b219ee281:g:IDkAAOSwdwVb4K~ T:rk:1:pf:0

Primarily I wanted Takara Legends Misfire for his Targetmaster and glorious pink colour scheme. I did have him on preorder but well that was just a big drama not to be re-discussed yet again :)

I was tempted to get Slugslinger I must admit but coming into christmas gotta tighten the reins on my expenditures where I can

[GoktimusPrime]

Another good way to decide whether to get a toy or not is to simply try before you buy. :) Meet up with other collectors and have a go with their toy. I got Shadow Raider just yesterday, but a week ago I already played with Tha_Phantom's Shadow Raider which confirmed my wanting of that toy. I also played with his Legendary Optimus Prime toy which, as lovely as it is, isn't something that particularly interests me so I'll pass on it.

And I always bring a toy with me to meets (well, I bring a toy with me everywhere*; even if I'm ducking out to grab a bottle of milk, gotta have a TF on me!) :D So yeah, if I meet up with other people then they can have a look at the toy. Just yesterday evening I took my daughter to swimming and I had RiD Spychanger Optimus Prime on me, and I bumped into Bladestorm and her daughter and they had a look at my toy. :)

*except funerals

[BigTransformerTrev]

With the new Cog coming out, I wonder if he will be redone into Fasttrack (G1 Scorponoks semi-drone)? Or perhaps that will be held off until we finally get a Titan-sized Scorpy

[FatalityPitt]

I was tempted to get Slugslinger I must admit but coming into christmas gotta tighten the reins on my expenditures where I can

Oh snap, I forgot Roadfire and Sonic Bomber are retools of Twin Twist and Misfire! In that case you can just ignore Slugslinger. You wouldn't miss out on much, unless of course you like Slugslinger's design and character.


Another good way to decide whether to get a toy or not is to simply try before you buy. :) Meet up with other collectors and have a go with their toy.

... And run the risk of revealing my secret identity to the world?? Never!!

Just kidding :D . I'm sure I'll turn up to one of those meet-ups someday, when I'm not too tied up and can muster the strength to get off my lazy butt and socialise.


With the new Cog coming out, I wonder if he will be redone into Fasttrack (G1 Scorponoks semi-drone)? Or perhaps that will be held off until we finally get a Titan-sized Scorpy

If I can make a speculation - I think Fasttrack could transform into Scorponok's head in a similar way to Cerebros when turning into Fort Max's head. Because if they make Scorponok into a Titan class figure, there's no way a small Titan Master-sized Zarak would be big enough to form Scorponok's head like the G1 toy (which was smaller than G1 Fort Max). So it would make some sense for Zarak to turn into Fasttrack's head, then Fasttrack turns into Scorponok's head. And of course, Fasttrack could be a triple-changer that transforms into a giant head and a tank. That would be the approach I'd take.

[BigTransformerTrev]

If I can make a speculation - I think Fasttrack could transform into Scorponok's head in a similar way to Cerebros when turning into Fort Max's head. Because if they make Scorponok into a Titan class figure, there's no way a small Titan Master-sized Zarak would be big enough to form Scorponok's head like the G1 toy (which was smaller than G1 Fort Max). So it would make some sense for Zarak to turn into Fasttrack's head, then Fasttrack turns into Scorponok's head. And of course, Fasttrack could be a triple-changer that transforms into a giant head and a tank. That would be the approach I'd take.

Could be. I was thinking that since the powers that be like to get at least two or more characters out of their moulds, Fasttrack might be an obvious reuse of the Cog figure, since both are multi-axle Cybertronian ground vehicles with weapons on top and both were partnered to Cityformers.

But yeah, if they wanted to make Scorpy a double-Headmaster like Fort Max, then Fasttrack might be an obvious choice. Otherwise I suppose they could make the bigger head 'Black Zarak'. Or Zarak could simply be near the size of Cerebros without any smaller head of his own required and a lot of the head bulk made up of a helmet built into Scorponok himself.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Or Zarak could simply be near the size of Cerebros without any smaller head of his own required and a lot of the head bulk made up of a helmet built into Scorponok himself.

I reckon this is a better option - there won't be unnecessary tank kibble or wheels hanging off the back of Scorponok's distinctively handsome head :)

[Galvatran]

Is POTP Novastar getting a local release here?

[DELTAprime]

^Doubtful.

[griffin]

While I was at BigW Browns Plains yesterday, I was watching this scalper lady in the action figure section for about 10 minutes, on her phone looking up items and selectively picking out all of specific characters of different toylines (Cars, Star Wars, Pokemon, and something else)...
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/e917.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/e918.jpg

Probably straight to ebay. :mad:
(FYI, I wasn't stalking her... she kept getting in my way while I was looking through the Transformers in that aisle, and when I realised what she was doing, I just hung around for a bit to see if she was going to turn her attention on the Transformers toys)


Is POTP Novastar getting a local release here?


Not sure... there was supposed to be some later waves show up here around November (for those who were asking Hasbro about the wave 2 Dinobots), but I can't recall if it included wave 4 and Novastar.

[TaZZerath]

Has anyone tried to see if the Siege blast effects (specifically the ones that are 'flower' shaped rather than 'bolt' shaped) could fit where Headmaster/Titanmaster head joints go?

I was fiddling with some figures today and thought hey that'd look cool, it'd look like the figure's head got blown up/off :D

[GoktimusPrime]

Has anyone tried to see if the Siege blast effects (specifically the ones that are 'flower' shaped rather than 'bolt' shaped) could fit where Headmaster/Titanmaster head joints go?

I was fiddling with some figures today and thought hey that'd look cool, it'd look like the figure's head got blown up/off :D
I haven't tried it but I highly doubt it given that you're looking at two female connection points of entirely different sizes and shapes. The fireblasts are designed to connect to these small 3mm posts on the Siege figures.

[GoktimusPrime]

It's gonna be really hard (impossible?) for the Bumblebee movie to slip into the Bayformers universe without contradicting something. And this isn't Travis Knight's fault, it's just because the Bayformers universe is so damn inconsistent and convoluted unto itself. Anyway, I'll wait until after the movie comes out to see how they handle it and discuss it further then (with spoiler warnings of course).

[Thurmus]

I thought that the Bumblebee movie was essentially a reboot?

[DELTAprime]

I thought that the Bumblebee movie was essentially a reboot?

That's what they were saying early on in development, but it's clear that it's not a reboot.

[M-bot]

That's what they were saying early on in development, but it's clear that it's not a reboot.

From all the trailers, I thought the exact opposite. I guess we’ll find out when it’s released.

[DELTAprime]

I'm not sure the dates will line up for me since I work retail and Bumblebee comes out on the 20th of December, but if I get a chance I'm going to see it in cinemas. The early reactions of people that have seen it are very encouraging.

[M-bot]

That's what they were saying early on in development, but it's clear that it's not a reboot.


From all the trailers, I thought the exact opposite. I guess we’ll find out when it’s released.

I've read spoiler-free reviews online that say it is a reboot and others that say it is not. Confusion reigns, even for those who've seen it!:p:D

[BigTransformerTrev]

For anyone here who is part of my FB Transformatorium group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/130836707023755/), ya gotta check out the vid of my son opening his RID Combiners this morning for his 6th birthday - think its the happiest anyone has ever been to get those figures :D

[TaZZerath]

For anyone here who is part of my FB Transformatorium group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/130836707023755/), ya gotta check out the vid of my son opening his RID Combiners this morning for his 6th birthday - think its the happiest anyone has ever been to get those figures :D

This was gold! Priceless! Can't wait til my son is older. Hopefully he'll share the same Transformers love I do :)

[Seraphim Prime]

For anyone here who is part of my FB Transformatorium group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/130836707023755/), ya gotta check out the vid of my son opening his RID Combiners this morning for his 6th birthday - think its the happiest anyone has ever been to get those figures :D

I thought it was great!

Love seeing the joy and thankfulness on his face.

[DELTAprime]

Finally got my MP Dinobot in the mail today.

Even though he is aimed at adult collectors in Japan I'm still a bit astounded by all the very sharp points on him. Needless to say, he would never pass a Hasbro safety test.

[Paulbot]

Thinking a new rule for 2019: if I don’t open a new TF within a week of getting it I should sell/refund it. Existing MISB stuff excluded.

[Galvatran]

Thinking a new rule for 2019: if I don’t open a new TF within a week of getting it I should sell/refund it. Existing MISB stuff excluded.
That's a big call but I do like the idea of a disciplined aporoach. If you need a hand with a large PoL... :)

[GoktimusPrime]

I have a stupid^crazy fan theory. ;) This pertains to characters from Bumblebee and Bayformers, but doesn't involve any plot/story spoilers - just casting and potential character relationships. :)

https://i.ibb.co/z4fgfb4/fantheory-charlieattinger.jpg

Charlie Watson is the main human protagonist in Bumblebee, she is the daughter of Sally Watson and an unnamed father, but I've just called him Charles, cos... why not (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Charlie_Fong)? :p She has an Uncle Hank, who played Martin Crane in the Cheers universe (although he didn't physically debut until Frasier). What if Hank's actual name is Harold Attinger Sr., and he has a son, Harold "Hank" Attinger Jr. Now we don't really know exactly how Hank (Sr) is Charlie's uncle, but I'm assuming that it's on her mother's side, making Harold Attinger Jr Charlie's cousin of some sort.

Dun dun DDUUNNN!! Also, Pamela Adlon who played Sally Watson, is close to being the same age as Charlie would be today. Adlon was born in 1966, and if Charlie Watson turned 18 in 1987 then she would've been born in 1969; so they're only 3 years apart (incidentally Hailee Steinfeld is 22, so also 3 years apart from her character of Charlie). So if they wanted to shoot a scene where Bumblebee is reunited with Charlie today, they could cast Pamela Adlon as an older version of that character. :)

EDIT: Made slight adjustment to Otis and Harold Attinger's ages in 1987. Although the actor for Otis (Jason Drucker) is 13, his character behaves more like a child around 10 years of age; more primary school than JHS. I've also just set Harold Attinger's 1987 age as "30s". I'm trying to be more consistent in approximating the characters' ages rather than the actor/actress' ages, since I've listed Charlie as 18 even though Hailee Steinfeld is 22. So yeah, just for the sake of consistency (it's a minor thing that was bugging me :p)

[Paulbot]

She has an Uncle Hank, who played Martin Crane in the Cheers universe (although he didn't physically debut until Frasier). What if

Her Uncle Hank (I didn’t take that as biological uncle but anyway) was played by Len Cariou - who didn’t play Martin Crane in Frasier or Cheers. Have you mixed him up with the late John Mahoney?

Your theory could still work of course regardless of the actor allusion.

[DELTAprime]

I wonder how well Roller would work as a Weaponizer???

[Sinnertwin]

I wonder how well Roller would work as a Weaponizer???

He's a bit of a chunky monkey, but I don't see why it wouldn't.

[FatalityPitt]

I use to think PotP Jazz's alt-mode looked odd and a bit out of character, then I saw this picture and realised where the inspiration must have come from.

https://engagesportmode.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/1976-porsche-936-spyder-martini-le-mans.jpg

[DELTAprime]

I use to think PotP Jazz's alt-mode looked odd and a bit out of character, then I saw this picture and realised where the inspiration must have come from.


Actually, he's based on a Porsche 962.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_962

[griffin]

Something fun - A new Walmart commercial in America (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGrSw7wK4no) has a lot of iconic TV vehicles all going to Walmart for customer pickup of their groceries, including Bumblebee.



...and something sad - another actor from Transformers has passed away, with William Sheppard (played the great grandfather of Samuel Witwicky) dying at the age of 86 on Sunday (http://news.tfw2005.com/2019/01/07/actor-william-morgan-sheppard-archibald-witwicky-from-the-2007-film-has-passed-away-380499).

[DELTAprime]

Something fun - A new Walmart commercial in America (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGrSw7wK4no) has a lot of iconic TV vehicles all going to Walmart for customer pickup of their groceries, including Bumblebee.


Would it be asking too much of my bosses to have an ad for Big W featuring Bumblebee in full CGI?:p

[TaZZerath]

Another actor from Transformers has passed away, with William Sheppard (played the great grandfather of Samuel Witwicky) dying at the age of 86 on Sunday (http://news.tfw2005.com/2019/01/07/actor-william-morgan-sheppard-archibald-witwicky-from-the-2007-film-has-passed-away-380499).

No sacrifice, nooooo victory!

RIP William Sheppard

[KELPIE]

I use to think PotP Jazz's alt-mode looked odd and a bit out of character, then I saw this picture and realised where the inspiration must have come from.

https://engagesportmode.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/1976-porsche-936-spyder-martini-le-mans.jpg


Actually, he's based on a Porsche 962.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_962

Still waiting...

https://i.imgur.com/R7Cj4FT.jpg

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Still waiting...

https://i.imgur.com/R7Cj4FT.jpgThat or some Turbomaster/Aquaspeeder updates would be nice.

[DELTAprime]

That or some Turbomaster/Aquaspeeder updates would be nice.

Euro G1 gets zero love from Hasbro.:(

[Dan]

I've never liked the look of POTP Jazz but recently I saw pictures of the Ricochet re-colour and I like it. I generally believe design is what matters to me but this tells me that sometimes I'm a sucker for a different colour scheme.

[GoktimusPrime]

I have a stupid^crazy fan theory. ;) This pertains to characters from Bumblebee and Bayformers, but doesn't involve any plot/story spoilers - just casting and potential character relationships. :)
Just realised that I confused Len Cariou for John Mahoney. :p :p :p

[UltraMarginal]

Thinking a new rule for 2019: if I don’t open a new TF within a week of getting it I should sell/refund it. Existing MISB stuff excluded.

That's a hard deadline, If I used that rule, I probably wouldn't end up collecting...

[TaZZerath]

Just realised that I confused Len Cariou for John Mahoney. :p :p :p

Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs...

[DELTAprime]

So I was just looking through IMDB. Despite 4K TVs and 4K Cinema projectors being a big deal they still only mastered Bumblebee in 2K. 2K is what the movie industry calls 1080P. This is, disappointing...

[M-bot]

My boys (4 & nearly 6) have been watching the G1 cartoon. Ironhide (I think) just called the ‘Cons “Decepti-butts”. Now Mr 4 is repeating the insult ad nauseum. I might be in trouble from the good lady wife.:eek:

[Megatron]

My boys (4 & nearly 6) have been watching the G1 cartoon. Ironhide (I think) just called the ‘Cons “Decepti-butts”. Now Mr 4 is repeating the insult ad nauseum. I might be in trouble from the good lady wife.:eek:

"Auto-boobs"... :p

[Sinnertwin]

I went grocery shopping yesterday at my local store and realised I was still wearing my Autobot insignia singlet as I pulled up to the car park. Rather than drive back home to change into a t-shirt or something more modest, I thought f**k it, and proceeded to do the grocery shopping.

You rebel you. Did you have the tough man, watermelons under the armpits walk happening too?

[Galvatran]

^ If only I had the body of BigTransformerTrev. If only...

But I did have a watermelon in my shopping trolley. Does that count? :p

[Sinnertwin]

Depends. How big was the watermelon?

[Galvatran]

Depends. How big was the watermelon?
So big Chuck Norris making the Earth tilt & rotate with a single round house kick look incidental.

[UltraMarginal]

My boys (4 & nearly 6) have been watching the G1 cartoon. Ironhide (I think) just called the ‘Cons “Decepti-butts”. Now Mr 4 is repeating the insult ad nauseum. I might be in trouble from the good lady wife.:eek:

Our not quite 2 year olds started saying 'Butt' with gusto a couple weeks ago, and laughing so hard they couldn't say it again straight away. I don't know where they got it from but it's so hard not to laugh with them...

[Sinnertwin]

So big Chuck Norris making the Earth tilt & rotate with a single round house kick look incidental.

That'll do it.
Carry on.

[griffin]

I was looking up the definition of "toy", for the purposes of re-counting my *toy* collection, and the oxford dictionary definition (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/toy) is - "an object for a child to play with".
A "child"... I should be offended that it suggests that toys should only be for children, almost like it discriminates against those of us adults who (occasionally) play with our Transformers toys... and not just purchase them to sit on a shelf untouched.

(this post is very tongue in cheek)

[GoktimusPrime]

Another definition:
Something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child.
So especially but not exclusively for children.

Also, just because something is intended for children doesn't mean that being used by an adult makes it not that thing. e.g. I ate baby food when my wisdom teeth came out. It was still baby food. ;) And many parents have sampled baby food in an effort to convince their babies to eat it (and pretending that it tastes good :p).

The word "toy" is of Dutch origin and means "plaything."

--------------------------------------

I recently got Cyber Battalion Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. Wow. Oversized Legends priced as Voyagers? :confused: Anyway, while they are officially CHUG I cannot bring myself to classify them in my CHUG collection, so I'm personally changing them to be part of Cyberverse.

[Sinnertwin]

I thought he was being serious. He wasn't ? :confused:

[GoktimusPrime]

12,730 people still like Premium Collectables on FB. :eek:

[M-bot]

We now live in a world where I own an official Transformer that is an ice cream sundae that turns into a unicorn called Unilla IceQueenCone and I quite frankly don’t know what my life even is anymore. #BotbotLyf

[GoktimusPrime]

It's what happens when you let toy execs name toys instead of actual writers. This is why Machine Men/Gobot names often differed so much from Transformers. Names written by Tonka execs vs Marvel writers (chiefly Bob Budiansky).

Friendly Robots / Go-Bots VS Autobots
Enemy Robots / Renegades VS Decepticons
F.15 Man / Leader-1 VS Optimus Prime
Cycle Man / Cy-Kill VS Megatron
Aero Man / Fi-Tor VS Starscream
Police Man / Hans Cuff VS Prowl
Porsche Man / Crasher VS Jazz or Cliffjumper
Tank Man / Tank Man VS Warpath
Buggy Man / Buggy Man VS Beachcomber
Train Man / Loco VS Astrotrain ... okay, Astrotrain isn't much better :p

[M-bot]

Not sure I was clear - I *adore* the name. I was reveling in the absurdity of it all and being thoroughly confused at the same time.

If it was an exec (and not a creative) - which isn’t likely - I say give them a raise!

[GoktimusPrime]

I like Waddlepop. Such a cute name. :p The others do nothing for me, although if I were a kid in the actual target demographic that these toys were aiming at, I probably would find them awesome. Cos it's not as if Beast Man or Lion-O were amazingly creative names. :p Or for that matter, "Galvatron"?

[Bidoofdude]

I like Waddlepop. Such a cute name. :p The others do nothing for me, although if I were a kid in the actual target demographic that these toys were aiming at, I probably would find them awesome. Cos it's not as if Beast Man or Lion-O were amazingly creative names. :p Or for that matter, "Galvatron"?

I always thought Galvatron was a cool name, considering his origins. Grab the old Megatron, which itself in some stroke of genius is a menacing name, and add Galvanise on the front and you get something pretty great for the far flung future of 2005, that fits with his new outside.

I just think it’s neat.

[Galvatran]

I always thought Galvatron was a cool name, considering his origins. Grab the old Megatron, which itself in some stroke of genius is a menacing name, and add Galvanise on the front and you get something pretty great for the far flung future of 2005, that fits with his new outside.

I just think it’s neat.
For the record, I totally agree.

[GoktimusPrime]

Grab the old Megatron, which itself in some stroke of genius is a menacing name, and add Galvanise on the front and you get something pretty great for the far flung future of 2005, that fits with his new outside.
Megatron is honestly a fairly ordinary name as a villain. Mega just means big or a million, and 'tron comes from the word "electron" or "electronic." And we 80s kids all knew this thanks to the movie Tron. We also knew what galvanisation was, since we still used galvanised metal bins in 1986, or at least my neighbourhood did. I didn't see plastic wheelie bins until 1988. So... Galvatron = an electronic thing covered in a protective layer of zinc? :p Kids aren't stupid, we knew what these words meant! :D

Look, they're not terrible names, certainly more creative than the likes of Cycle Man, Cy-Kill, Hun-Dred, Skeletor, Mumm-Ra, Mon-Star, Murky Dismal and so many other forgettable antagonists from other 80s toy franchise. Compared to them, Megatron and Galvatron sounded pretty damn good... but we always knew that they were also kinda silly. :p I'm surprised we never had any bad guys in the 80s called Vil-Lain. :p Although MOTU came close with Evil-Lyn. :p

[Paulbot]

There’s too many BotBots coming out so quickly that I don’t think I’ll remember all their names, punny or not. It’s going to be like the Micromasters where I can name at most 50% off the top of my head, but when you get to the second year squads and those combiner transports I’m getting into guessing territory.

[DELTAprime]

UW Sky Lynx is a little, small. I wouldn't say no to HasTak doing a (slightly smaller) Titan of Sky Lynx after Omega Supreme, Scorponok, Black Zarak and Monstructor are done. I'm thinking Devastator/Predaking size, not Trypticon.

[Lint]

My son is watching Rescue Bots and it is currently his favourite show. Unfortunately somehow this show has made him obssessed with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee despite the fact that the Rescue Bots are the main characters of the show.

He refers to the Morbots in the show as 'Naughty Robots' and has for some reason assigned this title to the G1 Ultra Magnus toy he has. I found this amusing for obvious reasons.

[GoktimusPrime]

Mucking around with MS Paint to see what Animated Blitzwing might look like with a more G1 design. ;)
https://i.ibb.co/02yHXLf/temp.jpg

[griffin]

Another instance of knowing too much about Transformers toys.... when you see part of a toy that isn't a mainstream character or toy and still immediately recognise it.


Digging around the seat cushions of someone else's sofa (long story, don't ask), I found several pieces of lego and this robot leg....


http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/e951.jpg


(from POTP Legends Slash, the new Dinobot)

[Sinnertwin]

+What happened to Unicron's left calf and foot after it fell off? His head pops off and his torso gets obliterated, but no peep about his left limb after the movie.

+If Rodimus Prime reverts back to Hot Rod immediately after the Matrix is removed from his chest (as seen in the cartoon) why is he still able to maintain his Rodimus persona after Galvatron blasts it out of his hands?
Shouldn't he turn back into Hot Rod, then Rodimus once he picks up the Matrix again? But then... shouldn't he have become Rodimus when he held the Matrix when Optimus kicked the bucket?

+ If Optimus was inside the Matrix, shouldn't he have communicated to Magnus and said something like "Magnus, you're not the chosen one. Give it to the kid & save yourself from being drawn, quartered & rebuilt" Hes got no issues letting the Arise, Rodimus Prime rip when it's called for.

[DELTAprime]

I really hope Hasbro packs enough Refraktors in each case to satisfy the demand of people like me that are planning on buying three.

[TaZZerath]

+What happened to Unicron's left calf and foot after it fell off? His head pops off and his torso gets obliterated, but no peep about his left limb after the movie.

Looks like it ended up in griffin's friends couch


+If Rodimus Prime reverts back to Hot Rod immediately after the Matrix is removed from his chest (as seen in the cartoon) why is he still able to maintain his Rodimus persona after Galvatron blasts it out of his hands?
Shouldn't he turn back into Hot Rod, then Rodimus once he picks up the Matrix again? But then... shouldn't he have become Rodimus when he held the Matrix when Optimus kicked the bucket?
Maybe its not just about whether or not the Magical Christmas Tree Bauble is in one's posession or not, but the actual thoughts and feelings of the person at the time? If the Matrix senses the wielder truly doesn't want to be in that position, it doesn't grant the wielder its powers?


+ If Optimus was inside the Matrix, shouldn't he have communicated to Magnus and said something like "Magnus, you're not the chosen one. Give it to the kid & save yourself from being drawn, quartered & rebuilt" Hes got no issues letting the Arise, Rodimus Prime rip when it's called for.
Well I'd like to think that Optimus' spirit was still making its way into the Matrix at this point since he'd literally JUST keeled over in a matter of minutes/hours before.

[GoktimusPrime]

Umm... any particular reason why the review threads that are currently on hold (http://otca.com.au/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=50) are still in the holding section? :confused:

[Dan]

It is said that we don't get movie triple-changers because rendering that in the live-action aesthetic is just too difficult. I was pondering a way to do it, however, that borrows from the exo-skeletal feature most recently seen in Seige Ultra Magnus or Shockwave.

The core robot would transforms into the land vehicle mode. However, a handful of accessories would, in robot mode, artfully add some more kibble, and in alt-mode turn the toy into its larger, aircraft form.

[FatalityPitt]

At first when I saw how small the new Siege Leader class figures were compared to the Prime Wars Leader class figures; I was thinking “Gosh, Hasbro are making the Leader class figures smaller (out of less plastic) and still charging the same price??” But then after seeing pictures of the new Jetfire in the new Commander size-class; I’m really starting to appreciate the new size-classes in Siege.

As much as I love the Prime Wars Trilogy, I thought the choice of scale/size class for some of the characters were a bit off. I felt like CW Skylinx, TR Broadside, and PotP Grimlock were too small to properly scale with other characters, and I felt like CW Megatron, TR Blaster/Soundwave, PotP Rodimus Prime were too big.

I think that by shrinking down the Leader class figures and adding in the Commander class, it allows for a bit more variety in sizes, and those sizes would be more fitting for some of the bigger characters.

I think if I could re-make some Prime Wars characters using the new size classes in Siege (while ignoring combining or headmaster gimmicks); I’d probably do something like this:

Siege Commander class:
Skylinx
Broadside

Siege Leader class:
Blaster/Soundwave
Galvatron
Grimlock
Rodimus Prime
Sixshot

Siege Voyager class:
Slag
Snarl
Sludge
(Yeah, I felt the PotP Dinobots were a bit small, especially Sludge)

Micromaster class:
Rewind/Rumble
Ravage/Stripes

I think if the scales were arranged like this in Prime Wars using the sizes used in Siege, we wouldn’t need to experience having a Grimlock who’s shorter than Starscream, a Rodimus Prime who’s twice as tall as Galvatron, or a Skylinx that looks like Blaster’s pet cat.

[GoktimusPrime]

Wait... isn't Commander Class like... between the old Legends Class (e.g. RTS Megatron) and new Legends Class (e.g. TR Seaspray) scale? e.g. DOTM Powerglide

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[griffin]

Wait... isn't Commander Class like... between the old Legends Class (e.g. RTS Megatron) and new Legends Class (e.g. TR Seaspray) scale? e.g. DOTM Powerglide

:confused: :confused: :confused:


Commander Class used to be in toylines that had a Legion class and was about the size of Legends class (which Generations already has), as the Legion class was smaller than Legends.




The new Class name is going to be confusing, as "Commander class" used to be about Legends size.

[DELTAprime]

I was in Woolworths and the Haylee Steinfeld song from the Bumblebee Movie was playing on the in-store speakers. I guess Bumblebee has done well enough to have the soundtrack play in supermarkets.:p

[FatalityPitt]

Wait... isn't Commander Class like... between the old Legends Class (e.g. RTS Megatron) and new Legends Class (e.g. TR Seaspray) scale? e.g. DOTM Powerglide

:confused: :confused: :confused:

They re-purposed the name of the size class. The new Jetfire in Siege is labelled as a "Commander Class (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Jetfire_(G1)/toys#War_for_Cybertron:_Siege)" figure.

EDIT: Thinking about it now, I think it might have been more appropriate if they called the new Jetfire's class "Supreme Class". According to TFwiki (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Size_class), that's the class above Leaders in previous lines like Cybertron, Animated and Universe 2008.

[GoktimusPrime]

It seems that the price would exceed even the Supreme Class though, because Supremes were about the same price as Leaders ($100). While they are larger toys, they're also simpler in engineering (e.g. Roll-Out Animated Optimus Prime vs ROTF Leader OP etc.) So in that sense I don't think that Supreme would be suitable.

Perhaps Ultimate Class ($150).

------------------------------

Is anyone else not buying Siege's "Cybertronian Mode" thing? Cos I look at toys like Siege Sideswipe, Hound, Roadhandler, Swindler etc. and can't help but think that these are awfully Earthen looking 'Cybertronian' modes! :eek: Now I know that the Transformers have always had human-biases in their designs; humanoid bodies, windows/cockpits and internal controls in their Cybertronian modes etc. - but ever since G1 I liked how they tried to make their Cybertronian alt modes more alien even if it wasn't perfect (which as a kid I didn't notice). But the Siege alt modes, for me at least, are too Earthlike to the point that I can no longer suspend disbelief.

This is why Siege Hound holds no appeal for me. I already have Henkei Hound, which has a nice and more realistic looking Earthen alt mode. But Siege Hound's alt mode isn't alien looking enough for me to suspend disbelief and accept it as Cybertronian, but it's also not Earth-like enough for me to accept it as being Earthen. I don't mind fictitious Earthen alt modes, like say Classics Bumblebee or Henkei Lambor -- these aren't based on licensed vehicles, but they look like they could be real cars. Some of these Siege modes look to me not Earth-like enough to be Earthen but not alien enough to be Cybertronian. That's why I skipped Sideswipe -- Henkei Lambor is more Earth-like to me, and my Fall of Cybertron Sideswipe, even as a redeco/retool of Jazz, is more alien and Cybertronian to me. And honestly, even if I did get these toys, I'd be more inclined to view them as Earth modes than Cybertronian.

I recently picked up the Micromasters and damn if these are the most Earth-like looking "Cybertronian" modes I have ever seen! :eek: I'm not saying that they're bad toys BTW, I'm just saying that for some of them I cannot suspend disbelief and view them as Cybertronian modes.

[Sinnertwin]

I wish that Hasbro/TT would just bite the bullet and call it what it is: G1 Revisited. I'd be ok with that.
Don't try and sell me a product that is clearly scratching the G1 itch, but then decide to slap on some shoddy "battle damage" and forced Cybertronian afterthought alt modes.

[GoktimusPrime]

Or "Classics." I'm still putting these on my Classicsverse shelves anyway.

[UltraMarginal]

I wish that Hasbro/TT would just bite the bullet and call it what it is: G1 Revisited. I'd be ok with that.
Don't try and sell me a product that is clearly scratching the G1 itch, but then decide to slap on some shoddy "battle damage" and forced Cybertronian afterthought alt modes.


Or "Classics." I'm still putting these on my Classicsverse shelves anyway.

Surely the branding and 'gimmicks' of this line is to sell it to retailers. The retailers who need a 'new' toy line every year or they won't buy the product.

[Sinnertwin]

Surely the branding and 'gimmicks' of this line is to sell it to retailers. The retailers who need a 'new' toy line every year or they won't buy the product.

Yes and no. Sure, retailers need the wow factor to be enticed, be with gimmicks like the Cyberverse line, but retail buyers are also looking for product keycodes and price points to stock in the relevant departments.
You could have had just called it Classics for the last 15 years & it wouldn't have made much difference. CHUGs are still $10 Legends, $20 Commanders, $30 Deluxes etc

[Paulbot]

The press releases call this line "Transformers Generations War for Cybertron: Siege".

From that perspective "Transformer Generations" as the fan/collector orientated line has been running for nearly 10 years now, before you add Universe (2.0) and Classics as it's predecessors.

I've been looking at Siege toys and wondering if I consider them the start of a complete new classics do-over or additions/substitutions to the previously established CHUG line - and I can't quite decide what I think.

[GoktimusPrime]

I wonder whose brilliant idea it is to make each year's Generations lineup have a common gimmick? It worked well for Combiner Wars as the gimmick wasn't forced onto G1 characters who weren't already gestalts (except for repaints, but I'm talking about original moulds for G1 characters like Megatron, Ultra Magnus, Powerglide etc.). But then Titans Return came along and suddenly everyone had to cater for the Titan Master gimmick. etc. - now we're at Siege where everything has to conform to the "War For Cybertron" theme for no apparent reason than because someone said they had to.

It's not like WFC/FOC where the toys were explicitly designed to be Cybertronian modes, and I like those toys. But Siege feels like it doesn't know what it wants to be, or at best, they're really just Earthen modes marketed as being Cybertronian. Cos boy is Swindler the most DeLorean looking Cybertronian vehicle I have ever seen!

[Sinnertwin]

Ghostbusters was released in 1984. The new GB crossover is packaged in a G1 style box. Clever, Hasbro.

[GoktimusPrime]

I wish that all CHUG toys could be packaged in G1 style packaging like that.

[Sinnertwin]

Perfect chance to do something like that with the 35th Anniversary, but they chose to use the existing Siege packaging designs and slap a 35 on the side instead. If they can do it for Ecto 1, well...

[GoktimusPrime]

Did some TF shelf tetrissing in preparation for the new Omega Supreme.
https://i.ibb.co/q7G3x2F/temp.jpg

[Galvatran]

Not TF related per say...

There was a recent-ish episode of Storage Wars where a guy won an unclaimed storage unit with storage tubs containing sealed vintage toys (action figures) in pristine condition. Tubs & tubs of 'em.

[TaZZerath]

Did some TF shelf tetrissing in preparation for the new Omega Supreme.
https://i.ibb.co/q7G3x2F/temp.jpg

Thank Primus you don't have any large, tall figures that would sit between Metroplex and Energon Omega/ that Transformers Go! box. That whole top shelf coulda disappeared!! :D

[Galvatran]

(Moved to here)


Well with Amazon US now available to us again, Toymate spreading and the possible relaunching of ToysRUs, an update might have to be titled ‘Not quite as Hard times for Aussie Collectors’ :p:D
ToysRUs eh. You got my attention.

[Sinnertwin]

https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/retail/toys-r-us-come-back-australia/

[UltraMarginal]

I really don't think they'll fit back in the market.
Toymate have done a good job of filling up retail space. I expect the other big shops will have more significant toy sales this year as well, given the lack of toys R us in the country at the moment.

[Galvatran]

Wow, I missed that news.

I hope TRU come back with a sound business model. Even if it means smaller or less number of stores (as in the article).

You never know, they might even corner the Tassie market.

But there will always be people who complain soley on price. This is not a $5 toy. I couldn't even justify paying $2. It's worst than a Macca's Happy Meal toy. Blah, blah, blah.

[Galvatran]

Was gonna get the Cyberverse 1-step wave 3 Optimus Prime for my brother’s kid. But noticed the Energon Axe was left as red plastic contrary to the back of pack image showing an orange axe. Hasbro you lazy bum.

[DELTAprime]

This month's going to hurt my wallet badly. About $600 between Siege figures and MP BW Megatron. Good thing I've been saving for months.;)

[BigTransformerTrev]

Why have they never made proper Transformer-themed Hawaiian shirts. :confused:

I'm into Hawaiian shirts at the moment - one covered in little palm tree islands with Seaspray hooning round in the surf would be perfect! :D

[Sinnertwin]

Hawaiian shirts? I only thought drug dealers and cruise ship passengers wore those?

[Galvatran]

Why have they never made proper Transformer-themed Hawaiian shirts. :confused:
I know right. Yet there are super expensive licensed suit and even 'business' shoes. :rolleyes:

[BigTransformerTrev]

Hawaiian shirts? I only thought drug dealers and cruise ship passengers wore those?

And big fat party animals! :D

[Sinnertwin]

And big fat party animals! :D

Oh yeah! Porky's and Meatballs here we come!

[DELTAprime]

I remember seeing some time ago Hawaiian shirts from certain brands going for hundreds of dollars. Don't spend all your plastic crack money on Hawaiian shirts Trev.;)

[Paulbot]

And big fat party animals! :D

https://i.imgur.com/U6D36ES.gif

;)

[BigTransformerTrev]

https://i.imgur.com/U6D36ES.gif

;)

Somebody got the reference :D

[Jetfire in the sky]

Somebody got the reference :D

I was saying Boo-urns

[GoktimusPrime]

I do not. Nor do I consider Cyclonus or Scourge.

They are filler Targetmasters.

Also like to see the rest of the Powermasters in Slapdash, Joyride and Doubledealer... but now we're heading in a different topic :)
By this standard does this make:
* Powermaster Optimus Prime a filler Powermaster?
* The Classic Pretenders filler Pretenders?

[UltraMarginal]

By this standard does this make:
* Powermaster Optimus Prime a filler Powermaster?
* The Classic Pretenders filler Pretenders?

Probably yes.

[M-bot]

Not sure if this has been pointed out before, but I’ve just noticed the lack of collector cards in the Siege line. Pity. I’ve quite liked the cards from the last few years.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Not sure how much interest this generates, but today I trudged my butt out to the Bumblebee Cafe.

Read all about it here (https://tetstoys.blogspot.com/2019/03/tets-goes-to-bumblebee-cafe-2019.html)

[valkyrie_76]

Not sure how much interest this generates, but today I trudged my butt out to the Bumblebee Cafe.

Read all about it here (https://tetstoys.blogspot.com/2019/03/tets-goes-to-bumblebee-cafe-2019.html)

Forgot to ask you to look at the Eva store which I think is the next floor up of the same building........I think :rolleyes:

[TaZZerath]

Not sure how much interest this generates, but today I trudged my butt out to the Bumblebee Cafe.

Read all about it here (https://tetstoys.blogspot.com/2019/03/tets-goes-to-bumblebee-cafe-2019.html)

Well, I for one was interested. Thanks for posting the article, it was an enjoyable read! :)

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Well, I for one was interested. Thanks for posting the article, it was an enjoyable read! :)

If one person enjoyed it, then I'm glad I wrote it :D

[BigTransformerTrev]

If one person enjoyed it, then I'm glad I wrote it :D

Make that two people :)

[GoktimusPrime]

I also enjoyed it. A shame that it probably won't be around the next time I'm in Tokyo. :p

[griffin]

Former Hasbro designer Aaron Archer has been drawing Transformers again, focussing on his time with the Armada toyline, and posting them up on his instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/archerworldstudio/?hl=en). Some nice artwork there, and he looks to still be posting up new pieces.

[Trent]

https://twitter.com/thephunkyjedi/status/1107049281041526785?s=21

Interesting train of thought.

[GoktimusPrime]

https://twitter.com/thephunkyjedi/status/1107049281041526785?s=21

Interesting train of thought.
This isn't news, lol. :D Perhaps this might've been better suited for the Things you never realised about Transformers thread (http://otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=12428). :)

[DELTAprime]

Well, I don't think I'll be buying from international Ebay sellers again any time soon. The currency conversion plus GST really hurts.

Still, at least I've now got a United Stepper on the way. I've been putting off buying him and his Nebulon for years.

At least United Artfire isn't as popular or expensive as Stepper, that will make buying him a bit less painful.

[UltraMarginal]

the frustrating thing for me is that eBay doesn't mention the GST charge until you get to purchasing. It's a very American approach and really puts me off when something is 10% more expensive that I thought it was going to be before I 'got my wallet out'.

[Paulbot]

What else would Optimus Prime listen to while working out (https://www.instagram.com/p/BwQI-VshrNe/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=tu5i1lrbpv49)?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Moved house a few weeks ago and finally unpacked my G1 collection. A few broken pieces, mostly in cases where previous repair jobs have failed.

It got me thinking how much a pain in the arse it would be to shift an entire collection somewhere public to be verified for the Guiness records. Careful packing would require a monumental effort and anything less risks breakage.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I said I wouldn't do this, but I bought a second Siege Blowpipe for the effect parts alone ::rolleyes:o

[Autocon]

I went to big w. Saw the botbots, a lil larger than i thought they would be, almost bought some. If i have more money in hand i might buy the 8 pack.

[GoktimusPrime]

RE: Ghostbusters MP10

I find it amusing that HasTak have discovered the cheap 'n easy way to milk more money out of collectors; take an Optimus Prime toy and slap it with any random crossover deco you want and watch collectors fawn all over it like seagulls to chips. These redecos don't seem to have any rhyme or reason - just slap on another franchise logo on Optimus Prime and watch the dollars (or yen) roll in. The first of these was probably Pepsi Optimus Prime way back in 1985, but of course this was just a sticker and to help create the idea that Optimus Prime might be hauling a trailer full of Pepsi drinks; but at least the robot wasn't "pimped out" - but then it was with the Pepsi Convoy reissue (which yeah, I totally pre-ordered :p).

So AFAIK here's a list of canonically irrelevant/shameless product crossover Optimus Primes:
* Pepsi Convoy/Optimus Prime
* A Bathing Ape Convoy (G1) - green/black/red
* A Bathing Ape Convoy (MP10) - green/black/red
* Neon Genesis Evangelion MP10 Convoy (and arguably the Q-TF Evas, although they're retools of the Hello Kitty TF not any Convoy toys)
* 7-Eleven MP10 Convoy
* MP10 Convoy atmos safari - Lebron James/Duck/Elephant/Tiger black/Tiger yellow/Viotech
* Music Label Convoy w/ iPod dock - white/G1/Exile
* Ghostbusters MP10 Convoy
* Street Fighter II Ryu

Others that I didn't include but some people might think that I should have:
* Sports Label Convoy - standard/marine
* au Infobar Convoy - Nishikigoi/Annin
* Captimus Prime
* Ectotron (coming soon)
The reason why I didn't include these on my previous list is because at least these are brand new moulds that Takara engineered and created alongside Nike and au to create a product for themselves. The ones in the above list are just redecos of already existing Optimus Prime toys; slap a new colour scheme and sell it.

https://i.ibb.co/Jk69gTX/temp.jpg
"But she's got a new hat!"

Disclaimer: This is not a vent. Obviously milking moulds is how they make money and repaints have existed in this toyline since the very beginning, and cross promotional merch toys have been around since at least 1985. And I myself am guilty of getting Pepsi Convoy and I own the Q TF Evangelion figures if they count; so yeah, I've totally indulged in this too. :p Just a musing. :)
P.S.: I also own Captimus Prime and I've pre-ordered Ectotron, so... :p

[SharkyMcShark]

Anyone else really lowkey hoping for a Studio Series Voyager class BB Blitzwing or harrier Shatter?

My recent favourite part of my collection to idly fiddle with has been the Movie Voyager air force - SS Starscream, SS Thundercracker, TLK Megatron, TLK Zeus, HFTD Highbrow, and RTS Strafe have been ever-present on my coffee table and I'd like them to have reinforcements.

[GoktimusPrime]

I'm hoping that they will do a Studio Series Jet Type Shatter. If they do Blitzwing I'll get him but I won't be shattered (heh) if they don't, cos let's face it he was a quick "Hi then die" character. :p About as exciting as G1 Ferak.

[Paulbot]

I expect they'll do Blitzwing and I am keen to get him.

Shatter as a jet I'm not so fussed by.

[UltraMarginal]

Anyone else really lowkey hoping for a Studio Series Voyager class BB Blitzwing or harrier Shatter?

My recent favourite part of my collection to idly fiddle with has been the Movie Voyager air force - SS Starscream, SS Thundercracker, TLK Megatron, TLK Zeus, HFTD Highbrow, and RTS Strafe have been ever-present on my coffee table and I'd like them to have reinforcements.

LOL, Low Key, Harrier Shatter is the BB SS character I'm pining for over all others. Blitzwing would be great, but I needs me a Harrier Shatter.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

The car mode guys really don't do much for me, but I would like a jet-mode Shatter to go with helicopter Dropkick.

[griffin]

Does anyone else think that when Siege Omega Supreme is released in a few months time, there will be a Golden Lagoon version in Asia by the end of the year.
Of course it will be expensive, but the battle artwork on the packaging of the golden lagoon toys seems to feature a small number of characters, and so far, all of the ones done as toys are in that battle scene (Optimus, Starscream, Soundwave, Beachcomber, Seaspray, Perceptor). Considering how many characters were in that cartoon episode in gold, it would be a huge coincidence to only have a small number of characters in the battle scene and every Golden Lagoon toy so far is one of them.
(if this is true, it would mean we should also see as toys, Golden Lagoon Powerglide, Ironhide, Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Dirge, and an unknown Seeker jet behind Megatron)



http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/e994.jpg

[GoktimusPrime]

Other potential repaints:
* GADEP/Guardian Robot/Omega Sentinel
* Mecha-Bot 1 (pre-TF) as a new character - perhaps as the Omega Destructor?

[DELTAprime]

I'm expecting a Guardian Robot repaint and a Golden Lagoon repaint. Hopefully, there will be enough time to save up before the Guardian Robot repaint because that is the repaint I'm interested in.

[GoktimusPrime]

I told a Hellenophone today that there are Transformers named "SCATTOR" and she burst out laughing. When I mentioned that there's a Transformed named "SCATTORBRAIN" she laughed so hard that her face went red and tears welled in her eyes. :rolleyes: I haven't been game to tell anyone that we now have a Transformer named Must Turd.

These are literally the crappiest TF names thus far (until Hasbro can secure the rights for "5#!7brick" :p)

[DELTAprime]

I just cancelled my MP44 preorder. While I really want him I just can't justify spending that much on a Transformer in 2019.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

The new Mp Hound and Ve 3 Optimus got me thinking. Some people might be waiting for a cheaper Hasbro version, but the current line of thought with "brand globalisation" should theoretically mean that Hasbro versions shouldn't happen right?

TT doesn't sell snazzed or changed Siege/POTP toys like they did with TM/Legends, so thereforem Hasbro should just be selling the Japanese version of toys released in Japan = TT Masterpieces outside of Japan.

If they don't, then its not being "globalised" is it?

[Paulbot]

Yes, Hasbro versions are unlikely. Hasbro are selling the Takara versions to the US market. Hound is already up for preorder and so where the movie MP Megatron and Jazz figures.

“Please Note: Product is in an additional Hasbro-branded sleeve over the Takara packaging.”

[DELTAprime]

Yeah, Hasbro is selling TT MPs in both Australia and the US now. Probably only a matter of time until we see them in all Hasbro territories.

[griffin]

The new Mp Hound and Ve 3 Optimus got me thinking. Some people might be waiting for a cheaper Hasbro version, but the current line of thought with "brand globalisation" should theoretically mean that Hasbro versions shouldn't happen right?

TT doesn't sell snazzed or changed Siege/POTP toys like they did with TM/Legends, so thereforem Hasbro should just be selling the Japanese version of toys released in Japan = TT Masterpieces outside of Japan.

If they don't, then its not being "globalised" is it?


This was raised in the MP Hound topic, as people were wondering if we'd see a cheaper Hasbro version...



A separate Hasbro release is unlikely, as they are now just directly importing the JP Masterpiece toys with an outer slip case with English on it.
And back when they were doing their "own" in Hasbro packaging, they did very few, and the last five were identical toys to the Japanese versions inside the Hasbro packaging.
(the last US Hasbro MP that differed to an earlier Japanese MP was Sunstorm in 2014, which was just a different colour deco, while the last Hasbro MP that had something different in the pack was Soundwave in 2013, which had five cassettes instead of one, and before that was Targetmaster Rodimus all the way back to 2011 with Offshoot which was exclusive to Hasbro)
Although, when TakaraTomy releases an MP toy after Hasbro (the first few Movie Masterpiece toys), they have sometimes altered the colours a little.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

This was raised in the MP Hound topic, as people were wondering if we'd see a cheaper Hasbro version...

Ah Ok, I kind of stopped looking at that thread a while ago...

[GoktimusPrime]

I've paid $339 for Siege Omega Supreme (via Mighty Ape); this will make this toy the single most expensive Transformer that I've ever paid for, eclipsing my current $300 max record. Although I've already paid for this pre-order I'm not technically counting it until I've received the toy - but yeah, looks like I'm setting a new personal record for the single most expensive toy in my collection. Sweet Cheeses. :eek:

I've also cleared shelf space for Siege Jetfire. ;)

[DELTAprime]

Porsche are making a new version of the 935, the car that Jazz transforms into in G1. It would be perfect for some type of new Alternators-style Jazz based on it.:(

[griffin]

Woke up this morning at around 4am, and found the last two episodes of Transformers Cyberverse playing on channel 99 (so it was too late to post up news about it being repeated). I guess since it was such a short season, it was worth repeating again soon (usually repeats aren't done for at least a year later). With Rescue Bots and RID also playing at the moment, I think that would be a first to have three different Transformers cartoons running at the same time on (free to air) TV here in Australia.

[GoktimusPrime]

Continued from the Greenlight toy review thread (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php/26558-Toy-Review-Siege-Greenlight?p=612645#post612645)


I'll be happy to see the end of these wretched stick-thin molds.
I hear you. They should release a CHUG Strika and consider other female Transformers that don't all look like buxom models. After all, most male Transformers don't look like beefcakes. Most Transformers are fairly androgynous in appearance because they usually follow the Japanese mecha aesthetic, which itself was inspired by samurai armour... and armour is gender neutral. Unlike fantasy armour where women wear moulded breastplates (huh?) or usually an insufficient amount of armour, real life armour worn by women is identical to armour worn by men. Female motorcycle riders, police officers, soldiers etc. don't wear a distinctly different "feminine" style of armour from their male counterparts. Female warriors in real life such as Tomoe Gozen, Joan of Arc or the Scythia Kurgans (real life Amazonians!) never wore distinctly feminine armour. There's no reason why we can't have more future female Transformers that just look androgynous like almost every other Transformer does. I quite like how some of the Cyberverse Seekers are female without much significant change to their overall appearance.

I felt that there was a wasted opportunity when they released Generations Nightbeat but never bothered repainting him as Minerva.
https://i.ibb.co/nMCF5X9/temp.jpg
This would make perfect sense since the G1 Nightbeat and Minerva toys are exactly the same mould! If they ever make a new CHUG Nightbeat I would really hope that they'd release a Minerva repaint too (note: the Minerva pictured above is a custom).

And there are other similar characters that they could do the same for, e.g.
* Airazor (f) and Airazar (m)
* Override (f) and Nitro Convoy (m)
* If they ever do the eHobby Gobots as CHUGs then Cosmos could be repainted as Pathfinder and Gears as Smallfoot
* Any Bumblebee toy could be repainted as a Glyph
* If they ever did a CHUG G2 Gobot Bumblebee then he could be repainted as Nightracer
* Any Seeker mould could be made into a female Seeker (e.g. Slipstream) or be reassigned as female (e.g. Novastar etc.). We don't need a repaint/retool of a "female" mould like Legends Slipstream, any standard Seeker mould would suffice (e.g. Siege Starscream)

Aww man, if they ever repainted the Siege Starscream mould as the three Rainmakers...

[DELTAprime]

For a mainline Transformer in 2019, I found Siege Springer surprisingly complex. I still prefer a bit less complex, but it was a nice surprise to see Hasbro is still capable of spending some money on TF design and build.

[GoktimusPrime]

https://i.ibb.co/MfVMTGh/rattrap-pun.jpg
Rough translation: "Thank you very mouse."

[Maruten]

I hear you. They should release a CHUG Strika and consider other female Transformers that don't all look like buxom models.

Exactly right. Elita 1 got to rock a bulkier mold, we need more of that kind of thing, more Strongarm - just let female characters be different shapes. Which they sometimes do, they're just working these current molds pretty hard.

[DELTAprime]

I was thinking about buying the Reflector 3 pack just to get Kremzeek. But on second thought, maybe I should just get my MP-5's Kremzeek out of storage.

[GoktimusPrime]

Is Blurr faster in robot or car mode? The answer depends on which Blurr you're talking about. This is something that I've recently come to realise about two of the fastest Blurrs; G1 and Animated. And Animated Blurr may be more interesting that I'd initially realised.
https://i.ibb.co/vq0BMVZ/blurr.jpg

G1 Blurr: G1 Blurr is obviously fast, especially in the comics where he could throw thousands of punches per second in a fist fight. But in both the cartoon and comics Blurr did seem to be able to move faster in vehicle mode (e.g. Blurr transforming to car mode to evade the Junkions etc.). And as a hover car it does stand to reason that he would be faster than even a super fast robot mode.

Animated Blurr: This is rather curious character as he's shown as being faster in robot mode than car mode. His car mode is fast, but it is in robot mode that he gains extreme super speeds. Now one might initially think that this is silly and that surely a car would be faster than a biped. After all, our race cars are much faster than anything that can run. But once you hit super levels of speed then it may be possible for Blurr to be faster in robot mode than a wheeled car mode thanks to the coefficient of friction (μ=f/N). Now obviously even running on a surface will generate friction too, but with his feet Blurr can still push against the ground to propel himself forwards. With sufficient force and friction he ought to be able to avoid slipping. With his car mode on the other hand he may run a greater risk of simply losing traction and just doing massive burn outs with his tyres. It would kick up massive clouds of smoke but he wouldn't be going anywhere. This is probably why Animated only ever showed Blurr moving at super speed in robot mode but never in car mode. He probably can't move at super speed in car mode. And indeed, his car mode was really used as a disguise as he was an undercover agent (even Bumblebee didn't know who he was at first). But when he needed to use super speed then it was always in robot mode.

G1 Blurr can reach faster super speeds in his car mode since it's a hover car... practically a low flying aircraft. So G1 Blurr loses friction in his vehicular mode as he's only contending with air friction and is no longer impeded by ground friction, whereas Animated Blurr is affected by both in his car mode. And yes, when you think about it Animated Blurr is way faster than G1 Blurr.

P.S.: I'm not including other Blurrs like Armada or Rescue Bots/RID Blurr as neither of them possess super speed. They would be like any other car Transformer and be faster in their car mode.
P.P.S.: Cyberverse Blurr is also faster in robot mode. Although we only saw him use his super speed briefly just that one time.

[GoktimusPrime]

Asked a question in class which I was sure nobody could answer.

Me: "Which Transformer was voiced by the cousin of the person who developed the atomic bomb?"

Class: (groans and complains about what an impossible question this is)

One Student: "SEASPRAY!"

Note that students were disallowed from using Google and the student who answered the question didn't even have a working device on him anyway. And yes, I would have also accepted Beachcomber. ;)

[griffin]

Usually the TV descriptions of Transformers cartoon episodes will either have the episode title, or the episode description, or nothing at all.
It seems that channel 11 had played the RID cartoon enough time to not care, or someone new was typing up the program descriptions and didn't really know anything about Transformers so just guessed...

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f495.jpg

[GoktimusPrime]

In other news: water wet. :p

P.S.: Wait, mechanical universe?! :eek:

[griffin]

In other news: water wet. :p

P.S.: Wait, mechanical universe?! :eek:

That was why I said that they must have been new to Transformers and just guessed. It's never been a mechanical universe, and the RID cartoon is mostly set on Earth.

[griffin]

Remember these TF3 DOTM Trading cards that BBTS (https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/3257) (and some other places) were/are trying to practically give away they are so worthless?
Well, I bought one of the boxes on BBTS (US$10 from US$144... it was a novelty item) as part of a recent order, and I'm so glad that I didn't want to collect these when they were originally released in 2011.
The fourth movie Trading Cards were the really good ones, with truck parts and clothing parts in some packs... while a different set of Trading cards that might have been for the second movie, had autographed cards in some packs.
This third movie set had limited cards that were shiny gold or shiny silver... and the artwork on them (and most of the cards) was pretty ordinary.

The two things that really made this set of Trading Cards suck...

1 - every pack of six cards had at least three that were part of the same subgroup of cards. There needed to be more variety within packs to make them more interesting... and it meant that I got a lot of the same three cards to most subgroups, leaving me with only one of the 12-15 subgroups of cards actually completed. (you get 288 cards in a box, for a series of 215 cards... with very few "Rare" shiny cards, that should have been enough to get at least 3/4 of the cards, but I ended up with half being duplicates, and all but one subgroup of cards being incomplete)
For example, some of the subgroups of cards were 9 cards that form a bigger picture on the reverse of the cards, but with most of them, I had heaps of duplicates of the same 3 cards, and often missing 3 cards, despite the non-shiny cards not being the "rare" cards.

2 - I could tell that these boxes were filled at the factory in a special way to make sure that each box contained the exact quota of "rare" cards that are noted on the box, because the 22 packs at the top of the box each had one rare card in them, and the rest of the box were all packs of regular cards... as if the factory people just filled the box first with the 26 packs of all common cards, and then added to the top, the exact number of packs of each of the special shiny cards that needed to be in each box.
So if these had actually been anything valuable at the time... or ever... you just had to be the first to a new box of card packs and buy the top 22 packs.

I'll be keeping the incomplete set of cards that I ended up with, but the spares will just be more junk to give away at some point later...

[DELTAprime]

Remember these TF3 DOTM Trading cards that BBTS (https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/3257) (and some other places) were/are trying to practically give away they are so worthless?

I'm tempted to just put my unopened packs of DOTM cards in the recycling. I have zero interest and got them purely because RK gave me dozens of them with every order they shipped me.

[Paulbot]

I saw some photos of Micromaster Hot House and it reminded me that it wasn't until the Micromaster playsets that a toy made for an Autobot was also released as a Decepticon (and vice versa).

It seemed wrong to me at the time, in part because the catalogs used the original toys instead of the repaints (so it looked like Roadhandler was being sold with a Decepticon base for instance).

Of those I only got Greasepit but I never thought of him a Decepticon because I had Mudslinger too and first.

Nowadays this happens all the times but I wonder if they'd kept the divide clear would we have just accepted that? It would have made Shattered Glass something quite radical.


I'm not sure if I'm forgetting some earlier case but the Mini-Spies are the closest thing but they are faction-neutral, and I'm sure there's things over in Japan like the Decepticon Targetmaster weapons being sold with Autobots but meh.

[SharkyMcShark]

I've been thoroughly satisfied with the released Studio Series Constructicons so far.

I have all four and I absolutely dig the different sizes, silhouettes and colours when they're in display in bot mode.

Combining Hightower and Scrapmetal into a hand/forearm gives an idea of the scale of the thing that excites me.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Remember these TF3 DOTM Trading cards that BBTS (https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/3257) (and some other places) were/are trying to practically give away they are so worthless?
Well, I bought one of the boxes on BBTS (US$10 from US$144... it was a novelty item) as part of a recent order, and I'm so glad that I didn't want to collect these when they were originally released in 2011.
The fourth movie Trading Cards were the really good ones, with truck parts and clothing parts in some packs... while a different set of Trading cards that might have been for the second movie, had autographed cards in some packs.
This third movie set had limited cards that were shiny gold or shiny silver... and the artwork on them (and most of the cards) was pretty ordinary.

The two things that really made this set of Trading Cards suck...

1 - every pack of six cards had at least three that were part of the same subgroup of cards. There needed to be more variety within packs to make them more interesting... and it meant that I got a lot of the same three cards to most subgroups, leaving me with only one of the 12-15 subgroups of cards actually completed. (you get 288 cards in a box, for a series of 215 cards... with very few "Rare" shiny cards, that should have been enough to get at least 3/4 of the cards, but I ended up with half being duplicates, and all but one subgroup of cards being incomplete)
For example, some of the subgroups of cards were 9 cards that form a bigger picture on the reverse of the cards, but with most of them, I had heaps of duplicates of the same 3 cards, and often missing 3 cards, despite the non-shiny cards not being the "rare" cards.

2 - I could tell that these boxes were filled at the factory in a special way to make sure that each box contained the exact quota of "rare" cards that are noted on the box, because the 22 packs at the top of the box each had one rare card in them, and the rest of the box were all packs of regular cards... as if the factory people just filled the box first with the 26 packs of all common cards, and then added to the top, the exact number of packs of each of the special shiny cards that needed to be in each box.
So if these had actually been anything valuable at the time... or ever... you just had to be the first to a new box of card packs and buy the top 22 packs.

I'll be keeping the incomplete set of cards that I ended up with, but the spares will just be more junk to give away at some point later...

I did the same and they are shipping in my POL now. From what you've said about the cards though, doesn't sound like I have a lot of fun to look forward to :(

I'm just hoping the overall POL gets here in the next 10 days. I put the order in for it to be shipped on the 3rd, it wasn't received by the post until the 16th and then went from Detroit to LA and has departed LA just before midnight on the 18th. I want it here so my kids can give me Jetfire for Fathers Day - you think a full month in advance would get it here. :rolleyes:

Honestly BBTS are just getting worse and worse, like when I asked for an order to be shipped 5 weeks before Xmas. When I contacted them to find out what was happening with my package the guy told me I should have said for the package to be shipped back in October if I wanted it by Xmas :rolleyes:

[GoktimusPrime]

I've been thoroughly satisfied with the released Studio Series Constructicons so far.

I have all four and I absolutely dig the different sizes, silhouettes and colours when they're in display in bot mode.
How are you find the weird bot modes on Rampage and Hightower when you're playing with them though? Specifically during melee combat. I find Rampage to be limited because he has no real grounded support due to a lack of legs. Jumping up and down is actually really impractical in a hand-to-hand fight (in reality you want to do the opposite and stay low to the ground). A simple tackle would ruin his stance, although he could try to rely on his tread-whips to maintain distance and prevent opponents from drawing in too closely. Hightower on the other hand I find utterly useless in a fight. There's virtually nothing here that remotely works. Sure, he can use that crane arm thing but being back mounted rather than arm mounted makes it harder for him to generate sufficient momentum and it's too easy for his opponent to just dodge/block/parry/grab the crane arm and either avoid it entirely or use it against him. His arms are impractically tiny, much like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but of course a T-Rex's primary weapon aren't its arms but its massive jaw lined with razor-sharp teeth. But even considering Hightower's arms to be as a secondary weapon like T-Rex, it still feels impractical because the claw-arm isn't articulated in a way that would allow Hightower to draw his opponent towards himself to allow his little hands to rip and shred. And the inability to draw in a captured opponent really makes the crane arm as more of a potential liability than an asset (as an opponent could easily use it against him, such as to throw him etc.). This is why any wrestler or grappler doesn't just idly grab an opponent and stand there, they will always immediately close in. Same with any predatory animal. When a snake lashes out to capture a prey it doesn't remain extended, within a fraction of a second it will recoil and draw its prey towards itself. Heck, even Hungry Hungry Hippos uses this same principle!

[BigTransformerTrev]

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f495.jpg


The description of the WFC toyline at BBTS:
•War for Cybertron trilogy introduces an expansive ecosystem of collectible figures

Thought that was a rather novel description

[SharkyMcShark]

How are you find the weird bot modes on Rampage and Hightower when you're playing with them though? Specifically during melee combat. I find Rampage to be limited because he has no real grounded support due to a lack of legs. Jumping up and down is actually really impractical in a hand-to-hand fight (in reality you want to do the opposite and stay low to the ground). A simple tackle would ruin his stance, although he could try to rely on his tread-whips to maintain distance and prevent opponents from drawing in too closely. Hightower on the other hand I find utterly useless in a fight. There's virtually nothing here that remotely works. Sure, he can use that crane arm thing but being back mounted rather than arm mounted makes it harder for him to generate sufficient momentum and it's too easy for his opponent to just dodge/block/parry/grab the crane arm and either avoid it entirely or use it against him. His arms are impractically tiny, much like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but of course a T-Rex's primary weapon aren't its arms but its massive jaw lined with razor-sharp teeth. But even considering Hightower's arms to be as a secondary weapon like T-Rex, it still feels impractical because the claw-arm isn't articulated in a way that would allow Hightower to draw his opponent towards himself to allow his little hands to rip and shred. And the inability to draw in a captured opponent really makes the crane arm as more of a potential liability than an asset (as an opponent could easily use it against him, such as to throw him etc.). This is why any wrestler or grappler doesn't just idly grab an opponent and stand there, they will always immediately close in. Same with any predatory animal. When a snake lashes out to capture a prey it doesn't remain extended, within a fraction of a second it will recoil and draw its prey towards itself. Heck, even Hungry Hungry Hippos uses this same principle!

In terms of play, I find Hightower pretty good. I stand by the comments I made in the review thread, being that the legs are so posable that it makes up for the gimpy arms. As I said in that thread, I would have preferred a cannon attachment for the crane boom, but I don't mind it as a sort of faux scorpion tail. I find him to be a characterful little gremlin.

Rampage I find is mainly hindered by the lack of elbows, though the claws being so posable makes up for that to an extent. Also, for a design that essentially gives up and cheats to achieve upright stability (ie partsforming a stand onto the bottom of the figure), it's not that stable. I find that it still tips quite a lot.

[griffin]

For people like me who never saw the movie Kubo and the two Strings (directed by the guy who did the Bumblebee movie, so we kept hearing it mentioned everywhere last year during Bumblebee's production)... to see what his previous work was like it is on tonight at 7pm on channel 99.

[UltraMarginal]

I'm tempted to just put my unopened packs of DOTM cards in the recycling. I have zero interest and got them purely because RK gave me dozens of them with every order they shipped me.

I'll cover shipping if you want to fling them my way rather than the trash. I have nearly got a full set and probably 2 more 80% or more sets.

And Griffin, if you send me a list of what you're missing I can probably help you out a lot.

[SharkyMcShark]

Does anyone else get the impression that the Bumblebee Movie Studio Series figures were all drafted by either a different designer, or created with a slightly different remit to the rest of the Studio Series line? They all seem slightly more complex and intricate than other figures in the line. Granted, 5 figures (Prime, Bee, Dropkick car and chopper, and Shatter car) isn't a massive sample size, but it seems to hold true across the line.

[Tha_Phantom]

Does anyone else get the impression that the Bumblebee Movie Studio Series figures were all drafted by either a different designer, or created with a slightly different remit to the rest of the Studio Series line? They all seem slightly more complex and intricate than other figures in the line. Granted, 5 figures (Prime, Bee, Dropkick car and chopper, and Shatter car) isn't a massive sample size, but it seems to hold true across the line.

I have to admit, these figures were the ones I was most looking forward to from Studio Series and none of them impressed me as much as I'd hoped, I find the earlier figures from the line more enjoyable. Getting back to your question, yes it seems as though a different designer did those ones.

[GoktimusPrime]

Isn't that usually the case with every Transformers series since 1984? :confused: It's always been a team of designers working on the toys rather than an individual. Yoke Hideaki, Ono Koujin, Okude Nobuyuki, Kawamori Shouji, Yuki Hisashi, Kobayashi Hironori, Alexander Kubalsky, Onishi Yuya, Miya Tomoya, Oshima Yuki, Hasui Shogo, Ejima Takio, Kunihiro Takashi, Kikuchihara Takashi, Tajima Yutaka, Shiraishi Daigo, Nakase Takashi etc. etc. - okay, granted some of the people I just named no longer work at TakaraTOMY, but you get the idea. I'm not sure why Studio Series would be any different.

[SharkyMcShark]

Isn't that usually the case with every Transformers series since 1984? :confused: It's always been a team of designers working on the toys rather than an individual. Yoke Hideaki, Ono Koujin, Okude Nobuyuki, Kawamori Shouji, Yuki Hisashi, Kobayashi Hironori, Alexander Kubalsky, Onishi Yuya, Miya Tomoya, Oshima Yuki, Hasui Shogo, Ejima Takio, Kunihiro Takashi, Kikuchihara Takashi, Tajima Yutaka, Shiraishi Daigo, Nakase Takashi etc. etc. - okay, granted some of the people I just named no longer work at TakaraTOMY, but you get the idea. I'm not sure why Studio Series would be any different.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that as a unit taken together all of the Studio Series Bumblebee Movie figures feel different to the other Studio Series figures. They feel more intricate and all seem to me to have more involved transformations than the rest of the figures.

[christalcase]

I suppose what I'm getting at is that as a unit taken together all of the Studio Series Bumblebee Movie figures feel different to the other Studio Series figures. They feel more intricate and all seem to me to have more involved transformations than the rest of the figures.

I have to agree there. I feel the Bumblebee figures are more fiddly and less elegant. Shatter and Dropkick (car) felt unrefined and way less impressive than say Stinger and Starscream.

[GoktimusPrime]

The Bumblebee movie toys are also based on a very different screen design aesthetic. (Bayformers vs Knightformers)
https://i.ibb.co/G3cktDB/bayformers-compar.jpg

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Stumbled across this article about WFC (https://hasbropulse.com/blogs/unboxed/the-story-behind-the-transformers-wfc-military-insignias-revealed) and it got me thinking, where exactly are these ranking insignia?

[griffin]

On the boxes next to their names on the front and back.... and the insert card behind the plastic tray.

[griffin]

For those who were in America in 1984, today 35 years ago (September 18th) saw the first episode of the original Transformers cartoon on TV... four months after the first comic came out (and I think the toys were just starting to appear in stores there as well).

[snaketales]

In order to keep him on display, I’ve decided to rename my titans return Megatron as Megaplex

[tinyJazz]

I hope we don’t get Earthrise Ratchet, only because I’m going to feel like a dumbass for impulse buying Siege Ratchet from RK.

[DELTAprime]

I hope we don’t get Earthrise Ratchet, only because I’m going to feel like a dumbass for impulse buying Siege Ratchet from RK.

I'm still holding out hope of a TT release for Siege Ratchet.

[DELTAprime]

Thank god for the Hasbro drop test. My Siege Jetfire took a nosedive off the top shelf when Omega joined him, but he survived with no damage.

Also, thank god for carpets to cushion Jetfire's fall.

[Dan]

Thank god for the Hasbro drop test. My Siege Jetfire took a nosedive off the top shelf when Omega joined him, but he survived with no damage.

Your statement got me reading about safety design over at TF Wiki and it mentions a decision to blunt G1 Swoop's snout. I looked at pictures of pteranodons. I looked at pictures of the animation model for swoop. I then looked at images of the toy. I never consciously noticed this difference and nor did the somewhat lumpy snout end of the toy ever look remotely off to me. :eek:

I guess I should have put this in the section entitled Things You Never Realized...

[BigTransformerTrev]

Since it wasn't in media I couldn't put it in the other thread, but when dropping my child at preschool today I noticed the name on one of the other students lunch boxes was 'Codi Byrnes'. Sure the spelling is different but a bit of a coincidence there :)

[Sinnertwin]

Jkmno. It's pronounced Noelle.

Thank you! Try the veal! It's great!

[Jellico]

Since it wasn't in media I couldn't put it in the other thread, but when dropping my child at preschool today I noticed the name on one of the other students lunch boxes was 'Codi Byrnes'. Sure the spelling is different but a bit of a coincidence there :)

Jetfire dropped off a shelf. LittleTransformerTrev dropped at preschool? ;)


Thank god for the Hasbro drop test. My Siege Jetfire took a nosedive off the top shelf when Omega joined him, but he survived with no damage.

Also, thank god for carpets to cushion Jetfire's fall.

Walking past my display cabinet the other day I noticed a certain off brand Jetfire leaning drunkenly forward together with an off brand Swoop nearly falling off his flight stand, all being supported on the mighty shoulders of a certain off brand Galvatron notorious for being carved out of die cast. Yay for die cast.

In other news I need to talk to a certain someone about being careful while cleaning around my display cabinet.

[DELTAprime]

I just took a good look at my ongoing list of G1 Transformers in CHUG. I wouldn't be surprised if '84 to '87's toys are completely replicated in CHUG by the end of this WFC Trilogy.

I need Bumper, Camshaft, Downshift, Overdrive, Time Warrior. Barrage, Ransack, Venom, Hubcap, Eject, Steeljaw, Runabout, Freeway, Goldbug, Rollbar, Searchlight, Wideload, Snapdragon w/ Krunk, Pointblank, Sureshot and Slugfest to be made.

The way I see it Bumper and Hubcap are easy remoulds from the new Cliffjumper. Runabout will be an obvious redeco of Runamuck. We know they have intentions to make new Insecticons so may as well make Deluxe Insecticons to milk the mould. Hasbro already said they have a Snapdragon in development. Eject and Steeljaw and Slugfest can be done as Micromasters like Siege's cassettes. You can make the Omnibots and Targetmasters out of Autobot moulds. That just leaves Time Warrior and the Throttlebots as needing some more heavy design work.

[Sinnertwin]

Who would pay for a time warrior? :rolleyes:
;)

[Tha_Phantom]

The way I see it Bumper and Hubcap are easy remoulds from the new Cliffjumper.

I reckon Bumper will either be in an exclusive 3 pack (perhaps with Hubcap and a red Bumblebee?) or as a Pulse exclusive. Given that they've done freakin' Powerdashers now I'd be shocked if they DIDN'T do Bumper at some point.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I need Eject, Steeljaw, Runabout to be made.

I got the Timelines versions of Eject and Runabout, the FOC versions of Eject and Steeljaw and the Adventure version of Runabout - they all serve as pretty good Classicsverse versions of the characters, though Steeljaw in particular needs a much better toy

[DELTAprime]

I got the Timelines versions of Eject and Runabout, the FOC versions of Eject and Steeljaw and the Adventure version of Runabout - they all serve as pretty good Classicsverse versions of the characters, though Steeljaw in particular needs a much better toy

For my collection, I try to avoid using Timelines as CHUG figures personally as I prefer to have mainline CHUG versions of the characters. The first WFC and FOC are Aligned Continuity so they don't make it into my CHUG collection which is just G1, they go in Prime. I'm using that Adventure version of Runabout myself, but he is purely there as a placeholder, I need a proper version of him.

[BigTransformerTrev]

For my collection, I try to avoid using Timelines as CHUG figures personally as I prefer to have mainline CHUG versions of the characters. The first WFC and FOC are Aligned Continuity so they don't make it into my CHUG collection which is just G1, they go in Prime. I'm using that Adventure version of Runabout myself, but he is purely there as a placeholder, I need a proper version of him.

I tend to forget that FOC is supposed to be part of the Aligned continuity. I guess since FOC was so obviously G1 I think of it as such. The Aligned novels (which were shite!) tried to tie the games to the Prime/RID/RB universe but did so pretty unconvincingly for me. I mean, FOC Grimlock and RID(15) Grimlock are supposed to be the same character?! Na, stretching worse than Plastic Man in a taffy factory there Hasbro.

[Paulbot]

I think the "Aligned continuity" is a concept that could have worked (could still work) but was rolled out ineffectively. They unintentionally did the Aligned continuity right in 1984 but forget their lessons.

[griffin]

I finally got to putting stickers on my POTP Predacons yesterday and it just reminded me how nicely these homage toys were done.

[GoktimusPrime]

My recent acquisition of Splashdown (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php/19005-Vintage-Gen1-Toys-and-merchandise-(1984-1992)?p=618352#post618352) now means that my 1988 Autobot Pretenders are complete. The only 1988 Pretender that I don't own now is Finback. Although I am still missing some 1989 Pretenders, namely Vroom, Skyhammer and Roadblock. None of these are priorities for me, especially the Ultra Pretenders given their GPS. Meh.

[BigTransformerTrev]

What is it with Rescue Bots and helicopter characters? They take badass ones and make them... nice.


Blades goes from a Protectobot to a Rescuebot (almost same thing), still had a predominantly white colour scheme etc but now instead of being a brawler is frightened of everything.

Now Whirl goes from a Wrecker to a Rescue Academy Bot, still turns into a blue chopper but is pretty much a little girl instead of a grown psychopath. Somehow I doubt it's a shout out to his IDW holo-avatar.


I don't particularly mind or have a problem with it, it's just funny how they have changed both the copter-bots personalities so much in particular. Most other RB characters have either stayed similar to how they've appeared in other universes or else are brand new.

Anyways, just a musing :)

[DELTAprime]

I finally got my Siege Apeface today. Feels like yet another triple changer that is compromised by having three modes, though not as horribly as that Voyager Broadside from a couple of years ago.

[Paulbot]

Starting on the Ozformer Awards form on Boxing Day.

[griffin]

Starting on the Ozformer Awards form on Boxing Day.

Excellent. I was going to ask you tonight if you were still doing it as I have time in the next two days to do it if you weren't.

[Paulbot]

Excellent. I was going to ask you tonight if you were still doing it as I have time in the next two days to do it if you weren't.

It will be a different format this year and it's a little shorter. They put the price up too much to use Surveymonkey again but the new form should work well.

However people will have to manually enter their favourite BotBot... there's just too many of them!

[M-bot]

My boys and I were playing with Titan-class Devastator and they decided (against my suggestions to the contrary) that Scrapper was not the most appropriate leader of the Constructicons and that since Hook forms the head of Devi, he has now assumed that mantle.

I’m just letting you all know so you can adjust your head canon appropriately.

[Sinnertwin]

That actually makes more sense.
Plus, I've always liked Hook, much more than that lowly steam shovel of a right leg.

[griffin]

That has always been a point of contention in the fandom, even way back to the early days of the online fandom in the mid 90s... because every other combiner leader was the core/head of the combined mode, but Scrapper had a slightly higher ranking on its original biocard, so the original cartoon and comic would have been required to follow that from the "Transformers Bible". (not that the cartoon focussed much on the team as a separate group with a leader, as they seemed to often appear as a group of minions under the command of Megatron)

[GoktimusPrime]

Even though none of the Constructicon's Functions designate them as team leader, Scrapper is technically the leader for one simple reason. He outranks the other Constructicons. Scrapper has a Rank of 5 whereas all the other Constructicons have a Rank of 4. Hook is more intelligent than Scrapper, with an INT of 9 vs Scrapper's 8, but ultimately Scrapper can quite literally pull rank.

And while the head component is usually the leader of a gestalt team, it's not always the case. At least one other exception would be the Dino Force. Goryu is the leader as his Function is "Captain" (隊長) and his Rank is 7 (and indeed the anime and manga portray him as the team leader), whereas the other Dino Forcers have a Rank of 6, including Kakuryu who forms the head of Dinoking. Interestingly enough, among their Anglophone counterparts (Monster Pretenders) it is Slog who is the highest ranking with a Rank of 7, although Icepick and Wildfly are next in line at 6 with the remaining two being the lowest ranked at 5. Although neither the Marvel nor IDW comics never really showed any of the Monster Pretenders acting as a team commander.

One partial exception is Waver, who shares leadership of the Autobot Multi Force with Wing. Of course, Wing forms the head and chest of Landcross, whereas Wing forms the belly and waist, but they both share the Function of "Leader" (リーダー) and both have the Rank of 7 (whereas the other Multi Forcers have a Rank of 6). Do the Micromaster gestalt teams have leaders? :/ I personally can't tell as each team has a shared Tech Specs Bio for the entire team (typical of Micromaster sets), and "Rank" (地位) has been replaced with "Teamwork" (チームワーク), so... I can't tell. In my head canon it's the robot who forms the bum of the robot (e.g. D-Go, San D-Go etc.) who's the leader as they're the least preoccupied and can kinda sit back and analyse things, give orders etc. Seriously... what else do they need that sixth member for? ;) I guess to me it's like a, "Here, make yourself useful and lead us" kind of role. :p

Yo, yo, yo, it's the Micromaster Gestalt rap!
<beatbox>
"Heads and limbs have come to parse, and now I shall change and form the---" (record scratches)

[Tha_Phantom]

Curiosity got the better of me so I decided to combine as much of Studio Series Devy as I could. Wow he is going to be massive! Still two bots to go.

https://i.ibb.co/CbFqR0m/20200109-180404.jpg (https://ibb.co/3pHwgh4)
https://i.ibb.co/2nXzy8R/20200109-181646.jpg (https://ibb.co/K0CtXNB)
https://i.ibb.co/PWzN6Y8/20200109-180714.jpg (https://ibb.co/wQrRzL1)

[Paulbot]

I think that's the best Devastator headsculpt I've seen on a Movieverse toy

[Paulbot]

EB Games have emailed EB World members to advise of individual store closures, with 20-60% off the marked price of items storewide at those stores only.

Stores reported as closing:
ACT - Majura Park
NSW - Blacktown, Rockdale, Winston Hills, Birkenhead Point, Inverell, Tamworth
QLD - Inala, Bribie Island, Underwood, Cleveland, Lutwyche
SA - Adelaide City Cross, Brickworks, Hallet Cove, Harbourtown Adelaide
VIC - Dandenong, Hamilton
WA - Dianella, Kalamunda

Source: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/511403

Hopefully the closures don't affect anyone here with Unicron/Seacon/MP preorders

[Tha_Phantom]

I think that's the best Devastator headsculpt I've seen on a Movieverse toy

Yeah it's quite nice. Forgot to post this close up before.
https://i.ibb.co/R00NqfR/20200109-181717.jpg (https://ibb.co/fpp9sfj)

[Paulbot]

I've not been able to find time to do much of many things I want to do lately. Sales stuff is in limbo (sorry people - hopefully over the weekend I'll sort that out). Awards voting is a little stagnant. I still want to get back to my thoughts about the last 10 years and even my top 10 of last year. And I really want to write up some thoughts I've had about the current Generations toys. I'll get to all of this in time!

[DELTAprime]

I was thinking that the current issues with Gel Blasters might get gun formers banned in more states. Not a good thought, but that's the random thought that came into my head.

[DELTAprime]

I'm really looking forward to the WFC-E Grapple. I hope we get both an Inferno and Artfire out of the mould. I really want to replace my Henkei Inferno as I hate the mould and I need an Artfire also.

[M-bot]

I really dig G1 Powerglide’s design, but his peripheral vision must be pretty lousy.

[Paulbot]

This is the official cover and the description

https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/transformers-valentines-day-special/

[BigTransformerTrev]

This is the official cover and the description

https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/transformers-valentines-day-special/

Ah, I had only seen the variant cover that seems to have popped up everywhere. Cheers for the link mate.

Given some of the stuff I have been reading in the last half hour on other sites, hopefully that link does the rounds a lot more.

[Paulbot]

I think it’s just an artist drawing two of their favourite characters.

But if it is baiting it’s to hide the book is actually about a more traditional “boy”/“girl” relationship and stars two neo-G1 characters that are very obscure.

I’ve not read anything from the new IDW series yet, nothing I’ve seen is appealing.

I have a theory that when spoiler Springer went back in time to the before the war at the end of the last Wreckers book his actions changed the timeline creating this new IDW universe. I wonder if there’s anything in the books that disproves this theory.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I’ve not read anything from the new IDW series yet, nothing I’ve seen is appealing.
.

Meh, you ain’t missing much. I read the first 5 issues of the reboot and found the storyline, characterisation and art to all be pretty uninspired.

[Jellico]

Just watched Emgos review of Earthrise Prime. In the process he discovered you can plug Jetfires weapon effects into the Matrix and Prime can hold it above his head ala "Light our darkest hour ".

Biggest, most joyous nerdgasm I have ever seen. People will buy this toy on that alone. Serious Movie feels.

[GoktimusPrime]

Serious Movie feels.
Only that Optimus Prime never opened the Matrix in TFTM. :D And when he did later on, it was as a Powermaster. But hey, thanks to the miracle of the 5mm port, Earthrise Prime's Matrix ought to be compatible with Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime. :)

[CyberiusPrime]

Yeah it's quite nice. Forgot to post this close up before.
https://i.ibb.co/R00NqfR/20200109-181717.jpg (https://ibb.co/fpp9sfj)

I am quite happy that the new titan will be movie Devi

[Paulbot]

A while back I came up with some criteria that helped me purge a lot of the Transformers I'd collected between 2000 and 2014.

I've found though that I've not been as strict with newer figures. It was definitely easier to appraise something with less attachment when it was several years old rather than brand new out of the box.

However, during 2019 and continuing this year, I've been finding a lot of my new purchases underwhelming. Many I think would fail the criteria, but it's hard to instantly turn around and get rid of something you just got.

Looking at some of the recent figures sitting on my shelf I notice that many are ones I would keep solely based on good robot modes, Siege Astrotrain is the latest and good example. The alt modes are okay, the transformation is okay, but the robot mode is the thing I actually like about it.

Same with Mirage, Spinister, Impactor, Jetfire... it's become a real trend and I'm not sure what that says about my taste and collecting preferences just yet.

[DELTAprime]

I decided to listen to this weeks Seibertron podcast since they were at Toy Fair. It was a bad idea because now after hearing them talk about how you are meant to make a road network with Ramp Masters I think I'm going to be buying a ton of the little guys.

[DELTAprime]

I decided to buy a Siege Chromia in the Target 20% sale. WTF is wrong with me??? Where did my life go so wrong???

:p

[Sinnertwin]

I decided to buy a Siege Chromia in the Target 20% sale. WTF is wrong with me??? Where did my life go so wrong???

:p

I cant look at you right now.

[Paulbot]

I think I need help tracking down some BotBots. I can’t find King Toots anywhere.

[Paulbot]

In just two years the War for Cybertron series has redone every Autobot Car from 1984/85 except:

Jazz (too soon after POTP?)
Inferno (not confirmed but, really, we know he’s coming)
Skids
Tracks (who was in the fan-vote, If/when Needlenose is announced he probably follow - retool of Wheeljack, Sunstreaker or Runamuck )

Combined with all the 1984 Decepticons (bar Buzzsaw) and the speed of redoing G1 is remarkable.

[UltraMarginal]

In just two years the War for Cybertron series has redone every Autobot Car from 1984/85 except:

Jazz (too soon after POTP?)
Inferno (not confirmed but, really, we know he’s coming)
Skids
Tracks (who was in the fan-vote, If/when Needlenose is announced he probably follow - retool of Wheeljack, Sunstreaker or Runamuck )

Combined with all the 1984 Decepticons (bar Buzzsaw) and the speed of redoing G1 is remarkable.


I wouldn't mind a more G1 Esque skids, it'll be hard for them to beat the generations Jazz from several years ago.

[DELTAprime]

(bar Buzzsaw)

I really want a freaking Buzzsaw to compliment my Siege Laserbeak. Come on Hasbro!

[Sinnertwin]

I really want a freaking Buzzsaw to compliment my Siege Laserbeak. Come on Hasbro!

I'm still trying to work out which Rumble is Rumble.
The Red one in the pack with Ratbat or the blue one in the Gen Selects 4 pack? But yeah, give Wingthing the flick and put in a repainted Laserbeak

[griffin]

The 4-pack toy is officially called Frenzy. It was noted as Rumble in one spot by accident... like Snapdragon being erroneously being labelled as a Leader on one slide.

[DELTAprime]

I wonder what Hasbro has against Euro G1?

They have done toys from every other branch of G1, but never Euro G1.

Hopefully, that rumoured Deluxe Rotorstorm is real and it sells well enough to force Hasbro to actually do more Euro G1 characters.

[Paulbot]

A bias to their local product? Thinking US markets won’t buy it because it wasn’t part of their childhood?

Botcon did multiple EuroG1 figures through its run and the British creators on the IDW comics meant books like Last Stand of the Wreckers comic gave several prominence including making Overlord a big deal. And he got a new toy (but for many may think of that as the Masterforce character).

I’d be all for modern versions of the Turbomaster and Predator line.

And hey if Cyberverse toyline can have a Rack’n’Ruin toy (and that’s peak obscure British) anything’s possible.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

I'd really, really like a few EG1/G2 characters done as premolds/remolds.

[Sinnertwin]

Someone finally did it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9nau-pBHN-/?igshid=wl0rp22hdnh9&fbclid=IwAR1Zq8xAygT2xXSTaayFUJ3SEVwqaXQX8iuumGHzz-FD9XHye-UWOZoPaNk

[DELTAprime]

Given the current financial situation, the world is in, I've decided to stop collecting the Beast Wars MP as they seem super unnecessary right now.

My season 1 of Beast Wars characters will never be complete, and somehow I'm fine with that.

[Lint]

My 3yo this morning: "I WANT TO SEE WASPINATOR EAT THE CHOCOLATE EGG"

[Tha_Phantom]

Someone finally did it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9nau-pBHN-/?igshid=wl0rp22hdnh9&fbclid=IwAR1Zq8xAygT2xXSTaayFUJ3SEVwqaXQX8iuumGHzz-FD9XHye-UWOZoPaNk

So good!

[GoktimusPrime]

Hahaha, although one of the worst impressions of Scatman Crothers that I've ever heard. :p

[Unicran]

Scenario: Government mandates Ozformers board to shutdown due to COVID-19 (computer) virus. Whatcha do to keep busy?

[Seraphim Prime]

My job, then watch Netflix.

[GoktimusPrime]

From the Earthrise Optimus Prime review thread (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php/26993-Toy-Review-Earthrise-Leader-Optimus-Prime?p=624672#post624672):

Gonna have to disagree with you there. He most certainly does have the street lamp mode, it was an easter egg shown on the box and also shown off by Hasbro at NYCC. Surely you don't expect them to try and seriously market that as the "main" mode of the toy? Neither kids or retailers would be too impressed.

https://i.ibb.co/hB1rLLK/1551936357-img-0785.jpg (https://ibb.co/St7H55K)https://i.ibb.co/NtFr5Yq/43289686-10156122451869912-5798054258729287680-o.jpg (https://ibb.co/zQmFpfg)

You are technically correct. The best kind of correct. :)

Although it's not like Refraktor's Mortar Cannon^Camera mode that was explicitly designed/engineered to be a camera, rather it was essentially fan-moding the existing Siege Soundwave toy into an approximation of a street light. But since it does appear on the packaging, it does make it canon. :cool: And let's face it, Refraktor's Camera mode is also, objectively speaking, about as lazy as Soundwave's street lamp mode; it's just 3 robots folded into boxes. But of course, they're designed to connect to each other and their accessories also form the lens barrel and tripod; so there's more explicit thought and effort put into the camera mode. Whereas with Siege Soundwave there wasn't even that level of effort. If Soundwave were able to bend at the mid-torso and have retractable arms to allow it to become a more G1-accurate street lamp, then I probably wouldn't have sold that toy. ;)

Perhaps one reason why they didn't give Siege Prime his G1 Cybertronian mode was because they already made Siege Megatron a tank, and they didn't want two tanks in the same assortment. Of course, the alternative would've been to make Siege Megatron into a scifi gun or space cannon. Still too similar? If they really wanted to go with a Cybertronian truck, then they could've given that toy Optimus Prime's (canonically) earlier Cybertronian mode.
https://i.ibb.co/p1Cffdj/temp.jpg
While G1 Prime's Cybertronian tank mode was seen first (in #1, 1984), his Cybertronian truck mode was seen in a historical recording back when Prime was a junior ranking officer (as seen in #48, 1988 - hence the Triggerbots). But either way, it's also a G1-accurate Cybertronian mode for Optimus Prime and it would have also satisfied retail buyers in not having two tanks in the same assortment.

I would've purchased Siege Optimus Prime in a heartbeat if its alt mode had been either one of his G1 Cybertronian modes. I already have War For Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron Optimus Primes who already have new/reimagined truck modes; I didn't need another Neo-Cybertronian Optimus truck (especially when it looks so much like an Earth truck! Yes, so does the G1 truck from #48, but at least that has canonical precedence (just like Soundwave's lamp or the Tetrajets)!)

[Tha_Phantom]

Perhaps one reason why they didn't give Siege Prime his G1 Cybertronian mode was because they already made Siege Megatron a tank, and they didn't want two tanks in the same assortment. Of course, the alternative would've been to make Siege Megatron into a scifi gun or space cannon. Still too similar? If they really wanted to go with a Cybertronian truck, then they could've given that toy Optimus Prime's (canonically) earlier Cybertronian mode.
https://i.ibb.co/p1Cffdj/temp.jpg
While G1 Prime's Cybertronian tank mode was seen first (in #1, 1984), his Cybertronian truck mode was seen in a historical recording back when Prime was a junior ranking officer (as seen in #48, 1988 - hence the Triggerbots). But either way, it's also a G1-accurate Cybertronian mode for Optimus Prime and it would have also satisfied retail buyers in not having two tanks in the same assortment.

Now that you mention it, what would have made a lot of sense is for Hasbro to have made Prime a "tank" as seen in the comics and make Megatron something else - either a jet or space gun. That way, they are much more different to their Earthrise counterparts and more people might feel inclined to have both versions of them instead of picking and choosing. We know that Earthrise Prime shares parts with Siege and by the looks of it Earthrise Megatron is a retool of Siege. Regardless, they are very similar toys.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

https://i.ibb.co/p1Cffdj/temp.jpg
While G1 Prime's Cybertronian tank mode was seen first (in #1, 1984), his Cybertronian truck mode was seen in a historical recording back when Prime was a junior ranking officer (as seen in #48, 1988 - hence the Triggerbots). But either way, it's also a G1-accurate Cybertronian mode for Optimus Prime and it would have also satisfied retail buyers in not having two tanks in the same assortment.

I would totally buy that version of Optimus, especially if he was mostly white or un-optimus colours.

[Paulbot]

Doubt we'll get Dogfight, Backstreet or Override in Earthrise, but fingers crossed for the third part of the trilogy.


it was essentially fan-moding the existing Siege Soundwave toy into an approximation of a street light. But since it does appear on the packaging, it does make it canon.

It's an easter egg. Hasbro put it on the box. How is it a fan mode when Hasbro put it on the box?

[griffin]

The 2005 messageboard and fansite is now 20 years old (https://news.tfw2005.com/2020/04/20/tfw2005-com-turns-20-years-old-today-410172).

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

On a whim I went and got out my old G2 Dreadwind/Smokescreen set (the stealth bomber that splits into an unconvincing jet and a gattling-missile tank-thing with a stealth bomber cockpit at the front) last night.

Hot damn G2 had some good toys. It's always nice when you go back to an old TF you haven't looked at/played with/fiddled around with in ages and remember/rediscover how much fun it was. :)

[Bidoofdude]

From the Earthrise Optimus Prime review thread (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php/26993-Toy-Review-Earthrise-Leader-Optimus-Prime?p=624672#post624672):


You are technically correct. The best kind of correct. :)

Although it's not like Refraktor's Mortar Cannon^Camera mode that was explicitly designed/engineered to be a camera, rather it was essentially fan-moding the existing Siege Soundwave toy into an approximation of a street light. But since it does appear on the packaging, it does make it canon. :cool: And let's face it, Refraktor's Camera mode is also, objectively speaking, about as lazy as Soundwave's street lamp mode; it's just 3 robots folded into boxes. But of course, they're designed to connect to each other and their accessories also form the lens barrel and tripod; so there's more explicit thought and effort put into the camera mode. Whereas with Siege Soundwave there wasn't even that level of effort. If Soundwave were able to bend at the mid-torso and have retractable arms to allow it to become a more G1-accurate street lamp, then I probably wouldn't have sold that toy. ;)


To be fair, the lamp mode in the G1 cartoon was itself also a not-very-good fan-mode of sorts, since the toy for Soundwave obviously already existed and inspired his model. :p


Hell, the official Siege alt mode for Soundwave itself looks like a thrown together fan mode mess, so it's not much better.

[Seraphim Prime]

I've been thinking about the relationship between the Earthrise Wheeljack, Sunstreaker and Runamuck toys.

The recent Sunstreaker images reminded me of a lot of the cues from Wheeljack, and I think those two are a rework/remould of each other in the vein of TR Hardhead and TR Blurr - a lot of shared engineering and some shared pieces, but were substantially different overall.

From what I can see, the legs and the chest transform similarly, but the legs are are turned 180 degrees with the top of the feet duplicating the bonnet. Arms are reversed, such that shoulders form sides and arms form the rear as opposed to Wheeljack whose arms form the side and shoulders form the rear.

Very clever engineering work!

Runamuck on the other hand appears to be a completely new mould - the chest window appears to be a fake double (ala MP Sunstreaker) and the feet, while a similar transformation appear to be wholly new - including a fake double wheel.

[Unicran]

I think, no definitely the worst Transformers toy is the Wall Walkers. And they come blind bagged.

Happy to be convinced otherwise.

[GoktimusPrime]

I got my MP Convoy Mk III second hand at a pretty cheap price, although the original owner had used a fine point black marker pen to draw in panel lines on the upper legs and shins. Today I bought a thin brush and tried to paint in the grooves in order to conceal the panel lining and make the toy look more like it originally did.
https://i.ibb.co/gy08PfB/mp-convoy-MK3-26.jpg
The grey grill on the crest has also been panel lined, but I forgot to get grey paint. Ah well, next time.

[Paulbot]

I wonder how WFC Reflector in camera mode will look in WFC Unicron's hands...?

[SMHFConvoy]

I wish there was more screentime with off-road (jeep) Bumblebee

[GoktimusPrime]

Today is my Cybertron Sky Shadow's birthday. Wow, he's fourteen now.

[Seraphim Prime]

Today is my Cybertron Sky Shadow's birthday. Wow, he's fourteen now.

I was trying to work out how you knew that, but remembered what the date 14 years ago would have been.

[GoktimusPrime]

Today is my Alternators Mirage's sixth birthday. :)

I was trying to work out how you knew that, but remembered what the date 14 years ago would have been.
;) The funny thing is that I desperately wanted to buy a big "evil" toy, so I went to TRU and grabbed Cybertron Sky Shadow. But then only after returning home and opening the toy did I read the tech specs bio and discover that he's only an undercover Autobot. D'oh! :p To this day I still display my CYB Sky Shadow on my Decepticon shelf. He's a deep sleeper agent in the Gokiverse. :p

[Silverbolt]

Ive been sitting on this thought for a while now. If they made another live action move, id want it to be based on one of favourite 1980s episodes, Japanese headmaster episode 18 "the most important thing in the world." in the episode the humans play a key role in this episode as mediators for a peace summit between Autobots and Decepticons.
Of course the deceptions deceive everyone and hold the humans hostage as a way to leverage massive benefits for their side.
I thoughts this would be great as a live action movie because of the key roles humans play, although they'd need to be developed properly so you care about what happens to them. The deceptions would become more than dispensable special effects as their threat could have severe personal and intergalactic consequences. The best part would be that autobot alt modes would serve with strategic value (not just eye candy sports cars) as they'd need to stay off deception attacks, infiltrate the buildings, (headmasters anyone) and then get the humans to safety via helicopter, armoured troop carrier etc.

[GoktimusPrime]

From the WFC Trilogy Scrapface review thread
RE: Repaints in Trilogy toyline

I think these repaints were a missed opportunity to do more characters not already in the mainline Siege (or at least things like decepticon Mirage)
I think that there was a missed opportunity in giving us a CHUG toy based on Mirage's Diaclone colours, either as a new character or as "Decepticon" Mirage. :/ :(
https://i.ibb.co/8MQwZ5K/trilogy-mirage.jpg
I would've nabbed Trilogy Mirage in a heartbeat if he'd been painted in Diaclone red.